Caged
by HyperAnimeWolf
Summary: [AU, InuKag] They met on the crowded Tokyo streets, and she trusted him enough to meet him the next day. It would be the biggest mistake of her life. Kagome never thought she'd get involved with a murderer, nor did she expect the past he hid.
1. Meeting the Stranger

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha nor any of its characters.

The plotline for Caged and it's details, however, are mine. Steal and you will be brutally attacked by drunken wolves. You've been warned. --;

**Full Summary:** They met on the crowded Tokyo streets, and she trusted him enough to meet him the next day. It would be the biggest mistake of her life. Kagome never thought she'd get involved with a murderer, nor did she expect the past he hid. Who she thought was an ordinary boy would turn out to be someone who holds her captive and torments her for an entire year. Yet this serial killer, experinced in what he does, fails to end her life. After being exposed to the dark past he'd kept secret for about 19 long years, Kagome not only drops charges against her tormentor in court, but she even comes to help and even care for him! She's way in over her head, and she has no idea what she's pulling herself into...

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Author's Note

- Hello all FF readers! waves I welcome you, as you've stumbled upon my latest and most proud brain-child, Caged. I suggest you read these A's/N, as they're very important in explaining exactly how Caged came to be and why it's written differently than other Fanfictions here on ;3

Caged was actually born quite a while ago. :O In fact, the idea orginally sparked about two years ago. The original concept came from a movie, but it was developed much further to become what it now is today, perfected in my mind to every little detail from beginning to end, my baby of sorts. It has grown quite a bit from where it started from, being rewritten many times over the course of time it has existed.

Caged is not a story; Caged is a roleplay. Thus, Caged is written by two people, each of us playing and writing different roles. I am the original creator of Caged; I thought up the plotlines, and added the details. I also write all of Inuyasha's parts, which is my only role in this particular chapter. I am Silver, owner of this account, and all I just stated. ) My partner is Wildfyre; she writes Kagome and her family mainly at this point in time. Much luff to her. -snugs Wildfyre- This is why it switches back and forth between Inuyasha and Kagome rather quickly, because it was not originally written in story format.

Okay, enough of my rambling. Below is the first Chapter of Caged. The first chapter doesn't get much into the plot as nothing huge happens, but no worries my readers, Caged is already written, so no need to wait on me to write it. :3

Enjoy :)

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Caged 

--Chapter One: Meeting the Stranger

* * *

Tokyo, Japan. 

A world of chaos, more or less. A busy place where things were always active, and rushing. The crowds constantly filled the streets and sidewalks of the bustling city, trying desperately to make it to where they needed to be, mumbling about their jobs or school homework that they hadn't finished. People here were so busy with their lives that they had learned to ignore the world around them. They had almost forgotten about anyone else but themselves. It was this selfishness that irritated him the most.

He had watched these people often, feeling the strong dislike for them, even if he knew nothing about who they were. He didn't need to know, watching was merely enough. This city, he just hated it. The smell, the crowdedness, the people... They just did not pay any attention. Horrid things happened right under their stupid noses, and they did nothing, not because they didn't know, but because they didn't care enough to open their eyes and see. Little by little, he was trying to somehow make a difference.

Maybe not in the best method, but nonetheless...

Speaking would do nothing for these people. They did not hear words properly, he had become positive of that, so he had to take it a step further. Show them suffering, terrible but non-fatal suffering. To one, expose them to the situations of those they overlooked, and two, get them to value their lives and stop making complaints about what they had. Then he would merely end their lives, so that when they were reborn, maybe they'd have some more sense than they did previously. He was probably a little sickly twisted, a tad insane, a wee bit mad, but he had very good reasons for having a very screwed up mind.

These people could blame him as a murderer, but it was these people that created this murderer, even though they would never realize or accept that fact. The teenage boy of around 18-19 had never had intentions to do this horrible things years ago; it was only because no one would waste their time to assist him when he desperately needed it that the bitter hate clouded his mind.

So now his bitter, cold as ice golden eyes watched those people, seeking out his next victim, but appearing to be nothing more than a normal teenage boy. He leaned against a tree that stood to the right of a concrete sidewalk, it was located in a small patch of grass between two buildings. He just waited in the shade, under the tree's branches. It was about mid-afternoon, and from what he could tell, not a school day; he assumed it was Saturday, but he never kept track of the days. Silver ears were atop his head, dog-like ears, pointed and twitching at every sound. They poked forth from hair of the same hue, waist-length silver locks, beautifully well kept and shimmering in the sunlight that poked through the tree's branches.

Dagger-sharp claws tapped lightly against the tree's bark, and the boy yawned, revealing the dog-like fangs in his mouth. All these features proved one thing about the boy; he was of hanyou blood, a breed often frowned upon in society, even now when humans and demons were in a peaceful community together. He was an inu hanyou, considering the dog ears. He didn't move much, just appeared to be lazing around, continuing to lean on that tree and silently watch people, trying to hide the hate that glinted deep within his fiery golden eyes.

Such cold, bitter nature would not attract a victim, and he would certainly not approach someone, for that was not his way. Let them get themselves involved, it kept his conscious at bay if he told himself it was _their_ fault.

* * *

Agh. Again, she was getting caught up in the tide of busy people that strewed down the crowded sidewalks. She had just left the mall and parted with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi, and she had been on her way home before missing the tram bus because she could not reach it in time. She swore quietly to herself, pushing her way through, almost losing her school bag, which she carried her purchases in. 

The girl managed to pull away from the hustle and bustle eventually, her shoulder-length ebony hair tousled and ruffled, her bright brown eyes slightly narrowed as she leaned against a wall, trying to catch her breath. Nearby, he noticed a young boy, but disregarded the thought as she quickly checked her bag to see if everything was there. Good. Now...to find a telephone...

Rather than asking the random jerks pushing through the daily sidewalk traffic, she slowly approached the boy leaning against the tree.

"Um...hello...?"

Golden eyes turned toward the girl, a look of confusion crossing the boy's face for a moment, his silver dog-like ears pricking forward. He blinked once or twice, before shaking his head, and mumbling to himself about something. He glanced at the girl once more, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Yes?" He questioned quietly, feigning his confusion, as he stood straight, no longer leaning against the tree. "Can I...help you with something?"

How fortunate for him that a girl approach him out of no where. If she was anything like the kind of person he was looking for, then fate was kind to him today. If he could manage to be friendly with her and hang around her long enough, he could search her for signs he wanted to see in future victims. Self-pity...any signs or evidence of self harm or attempted suicide...intense complaining about simpe things in life... Usually he found one of these qualities, sometimes all of them, in a teenage girl like this one.

"Um, yes, please. I need to find payphone or something, but I have no clue where to look. Could you direct me anywhere in particular?" She didn't like the thought of walking home alone, especially if her mother was to find out that she did. Even Grandpa had his complaints when it was about her being able to take care of herself. Or, in her guardians' eyes, not being able to take care of herself.

She tilted her head slightly as she observed him: bright amber eyes and sleek silver hair. And she noted the dog ears. Very cute dog ears. And when she felt the sudden urge to touch them, she blinked in surprise, shaking her head.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do for you. I have no idea where a payphone would be," the boy replied, with a small shrug, "sorry about that." The silver ears flicked back and forth, molten amber eyes watching her but not staring, for that would be very rude. "My best advice would be to find a store with a phone open to public use. 'Cause in Tokyo, even if you found a payphone, you may have to wait in an hour-long line to use it."

She was a very pretty girl, he admitted mentally. She held a bit more beauty than his other victims; this was not fact, but his own opinion, many he was sure would find some of his others much more beautiful. Not that he much cared for looks. He wasn't in this for attraction.

"Ah." She looked away, slightly disappointed. "I guess there's nothing to do but walk, but of course, mom isn't going to like that." She sighed, hanging her head in defeat. "Well, thanks anyway." She cocked her head and smiled slightly.

"Also, are you a youkai, by any chance? Your ears..." She glanced at them in question.

"You're half right. Hanyou," he replied, said ears twitching back and forth. It wasn't something he sounded very excited to admit, his bloodline was far from a good quality. He'd had his mixed blood rubbed in his face his entire life, but he wasn't going to lie to himself about what he was either. That would be useless.  
He'd just have to manage, and face it, hanyou were not meant for socialization, especially with the many shallow-minded people of the world.

"Really? That must be awesome, what with the claws and the fangs and the super senses and all." She grinned, almost geekily, as if she was one of those nerds that read too many comic books. "Bet it makes life easier, ne? Oh! By the way, my name's Kagome!"

She held out her hand happily in greetings. "What's yours?"

"You could say that, but I wouldn't say a hanyou's life is particularly...easy," the inu hanyou replied, with a few flicks of his ears. He watched her, listening to her name silently, "Kagome...I like that."

His eyes gazed down to her hand, and he extended his own after a moment, shaking her hand quickly, minding his claws. He didn't want them to draw blood just yet. "My name's Inuyasha. Nice to meet you."

"Really? Heh, my father named me that, but, I don't like it much. He left us about when I was six, never to return." She shrugged, turning her attention to his name. "Inuyasha, eh? That's a rather beautiful name," she added, eyes gleaming. She shook back enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, too."

She tilted her head back and forth, almost like a dance, as she pondered asking him something. "Well...if you're not doing anything...would you like to come with me? I'm not supposed to be walking alone, and when we get there, we could treat you to dinner or something." She smiled warmly. "My mother is quite the cook. Best around, in my opinion."

"Heh, when I was named, I don't think 'beautiful,' was quite my parents' intent," Inuyasha shrugged, ears flicking. _'Quite the opposite, in fact...'_

"I really don't have any plans so...I suppose accompanying you won't be so bad, it would give us time to get to know each other a little better. Which sounds nice," he nodded, mentally smirking; this was going just in the direction he needed.

"Well, come with me, then," she chirped, pleased. She began to head down the sidewalk in measured steps, trying to think of something to talk about.

"So...you like animals?"

The inu hanyou followed alongside the girl, glancing at her occasionally, but spending most of his time looking around, silently thinking about things. When she spoke, his ears pricked forward, and he glanced at her with his amber eyes.

"Animals? Never had much contact with them...but I suppose I'd like some species," he replied with a shrug, blinking at the odd conversation; well, odd for teenagers.

"Nothing in particular, then? Hopefully you don't have a problem with cats, do you?" She noted the presence of Buyo at home. "I've got one, so I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't have an allergy against them or anything."

Inuyasha shrugged, "I have never come into contact with a cat before. I suppose we'll see."

"I suppose so. Heh." She turned the corner of the sidewalk, stopping before a huge flight of stairs. "Yep. We live at a shrine. And these steps...they're torture." She smiled a little awkwardly before beginning to climb. Eventually, they were able to approach the house. Kagome slid the paper door open, slipping out of her shoes.

"Mother, I'm home!" she called before turning to let Inuyasha in. "You can leave your shoes by the door. The kitchen is the room on the left." She smiled warmly before disappearing into said kitchen.

The hanyou nodded, pretty much just following her example, having never been in a normal household so...eh, he wasn't exactly sure what to do or anything of the sort.

She turned to him as he followed after her. "I hope you like 'kitsune udon,'" she chirped. "It's a specialty of my mother's." She turned around and pointed to the woman with short black hair in an apron working at the stove. "This is my mother." She turned back to her mother. "And mom, this is Inuyasha. He was quite kind in escorting me back from the main city."

The woman went over to the sink to wash flower and fish from her hands before turning to the boy, drying her hands on the apron around her waist. She held out her hand, smiling. "How do you do, Inuyasha? It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, also," the inu hanyou replied, with a nod of his head as he gently shook her hand quickly, again keeping the sharp tips of his claws in mind. "I'm fine," he said in response to her question, "how are you?" Inuyasha didn't exactly know what polite was, but he was trying to achieve such behavior. He had never had to deal with his victim's parents or family before, but he assumed it would be more trust worthy if he was to stick around a bit.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." She smiled warmly, rushing back to the stove as she realized that the udon was beginning to boil over.

"Er...have a seat right over here," she said, pointing to the table by the window that had four chairs about it. "Any seat is okay. I'll get the drinks."

Inuyasha nodded, just sitting in the seat closest to him already, looking around a bit. A normal household intrigued him a bit, it was so different than what he was used to. Of course, it arose a bit of bitterness in him, but his grand skills at acting and hiding emotions could subdue that.

She pulled out several cups from the cabinet and turned around for a second. "Do you want water, or tea, or milk or something?"

Aoi, on the other hand, set out bowls for five and ladeled out five helpings of her udon soup. She pushed one bowl towards Inuyasha with a set of chopsticks in hand. "Hope you like spices okay," she noted before putting the empty dish in the sink.

Glancing at Kagome, the inu hanyou shrugged, silver dog ears pricking forward. "I don't really care, either way. Water would be fine." He nodded slightly, and soon after mumbled a small 'thanks,' to Aoi/Mrs. Higurashi. He didn't particularly hope this visit lasted too long, he was far too antisocial for this type of thing, but he supposed it wouldn't be too bad, the food smelled really good.

Kagome bobbed her head and poured water into the glasses from a clear pitcher in the fridge. She carried them to the table, setting one in front of Inuyasha and the rest in their respective places. Then she sat directly across from him and pulled her own bowl to her, blowing to cool it off before eating.  
"So, what do you think?"

"Mm, it's nice, very good," the inu hanyou nodded, glancing at her, golden eyes gleaming. He wasn't all that comfortable here, but he did like the food, eating quickly but not too quickly. It was not often that he ate anything other than fastfood, unable to cook himself and having absolutely no one to cook for him. He had limited funds, too, so it wasn't like he ate everyday, wasn't like he had to. This was his first meal in a few days, only making it taste better since he was just beginning to feel the irritating plague of hunger. Though it was far from unbearable, after going months upon months eating very little, his body had learned to adjust. If he ate meals too close together, he would actually become somewhat ill.

Such a complicated life and lifestyle he had.

Complicated indeed. Kagome had finished her bowl after little bit, carrying the dish to the sink and washing it quickly. She came back to sit and pick up her mother's bowl. "You finished yet, Inuyasha?" she asked, waiting before she would finish off the dishes.

The inu hanyou nodded in response, ears pricking when she spoke. He had probably finished before her. He seemed to have a habit of eating quickly, though he supposed being of youkai blood had something to do with it. His speed outranked a human's, even when he wasn't eating too quickly. He handed the bowl to her.  
She grabbed with with her freehand and whisked them through the sink before coming back.

"Well, unless you've got something else to do, would like to stay and talk? We can understand if you're busy or something, though."

"Mm, I'm not sure," Inuyasha replied, standing, "I don't think I have much more free time, not tonight at least. As much as getting to know you better interests me, I should probably be going soon..."

"Aww, well that sucks." She sighed. "But, it can't be helped." She walked him to the door. "So...any clue when I could see you again? It would be a shame for you to just up and leave."

"I truthfully have no idea. Usually when you run into someone in this busy city, you're not likely to run into them again, heh. Unless you really want to stay in contact, in which case...we could just plan to run into each other," the hanyou shrugged, his ears twitching.

"Um, sure. But where, though?"

"So you'd want to?"

She shrugged. "I can't see why not."

"Be sure, then," the hanyou shrugged as well, "If you are, I'd be glad to write an address down for you. You could meet me there."

"Mm'kay, then." She went to the pedestal by the door and retrieved a pencil and notepad. "Here you go."

Inuyasha mumbled a quiet thanks, taking the notepad and pencil from her, keeping it only long enough to scribble down an address and quick directions. Then he returned them to her, nodding, "There ya go."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?" She smiled and placed the notepad back inside.

Inuyasha nodded, his silver dog-like ears pricking forward. "Yeah, see you then. Bye," he waved a little, to add a slight amount of friendliness to his exit, before he left.

Once he was walking on the sidewalk amongst the other people of Tokyo, the hanyou looked up, seeing only a starless velvet sky. "That went well," he mumbled to himself, "Saves me some time when things are that easy."

She smiled and waved back before turning around and heading inside.

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Author's Note

Well, there you have it, the beginning of a very twisted, sick, and bloody fanfic. 8D I would highly appreciate reviews as long as you're not trying to flame me. ;3 I don't appreciate flames, and it's a good way to get on my bad side. It's immature on top of that. -rolls eyes-

A huge thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this story! I do hope you stick around as the plot progresses and becomes deeper and deeper. :D

-Silver and Wildfyre-


	2. Capture and Torment

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha nor any of it's characters.

However the plot and ideas of Caged are mine.

-nods-

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Author's Note

Well, here is chapter two of Caged. ) So far, the review section is kinda dead, but I just put this Fanfic up a few days ago so I'm not surprised. XD As long as I continue to update, there will be a higher chance of people reading, right?

In this chapter, the real plot begins. The last chapter was basically the introduction leading up to the chaos. This chapter introduces a huge part of the story, and it's much more interesting than the last one, I promise. lD

A small Warning: This chapter is a bit more graphic, and the Fic from this point on will mention some sensetive topics, such as rape, ect., so if you're uncomfortable with that, don't read it. This story is rated M for a reason, kiddies. ;D

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Caged

Chapter 2: Capture and Torment

* * *

Kagome walked along the sidewalk, her eyes focused on the notepad in one hand as she ate a poptart with the other. Hmm. Where exactly is this, anyway? She went where her feet took her, following Inuyasha's directions.

Those directions would lead her throughout very strange areas, places seemingly alien to Tokyo. Crowds thinned, and soon there were few people at all. Eventually, Kagome would find herself alone. The brightness of shops and the towering business buildings would not tower above her head, rather she would find herself in an area of old, run down buildings, no longer used and suffering from severe damage from the weather and merely time itself. Old warehouses previously used for storage, and other such things. It was empty, and quiet, an odd thing indeed for Tokyo or Japan in general. The windows of the buildings were other boarded with rotted wood or the glass was broken. Some buildings looked as if they would soon collapse, others made of stronger material showed the weather's wrath, with rust among other things. There was no sign of the silver-haired hanyou as of yet.

Kagome was wringing the patch of the notepad paper in her hands, looking nervous. This was definitely not a good idea. This place was so...shady. Abandoned. Damn straight creepy, really. She stopped and sighed, turning around to head back.

"Maybe I took a wrong turn," she mumbled. Or maybe she read the address wrong. Maybe he gave her the wrong directions? She looked at the paper, scrutinizing every letter Inuyasha had written on the note.

The letters and handwriting itself was a bit poor, but that couldn't be helped. It was miracle he could read and write at all, things he had been forced to teach himself. School had not been a factor in his life, and the hanyou's intelligence came from self-teaching alone. However, everything was correct.

"Oh you didn't," the voice seemed to come from nowhere, answering her doubts, as did its owner, as the inu hanyou appeared behind her quite suddenly, and his voice break the silence without warning. "This is the right place. I hope finding it was fairly easy for you." The boy tilted his head slightly, looking at her, his dog ears pricked forward.

"Yeep!" She flinched and turned around quickly, almost unbalancing herself. "...oh, hi." She placed her hand over her racing heart. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Don't do that. Aagh." She shook her head, but looked back at him. "Why did you want to meet here of all places?"

"Well, this is about the only place in Tokyo with no crowds," the hanyou replied. An odd tone echoed slightly in his voice, and there was a somewhat sadistic glint in his eyes, though it was near impossible to see. "I absolutely hate crowds," he had looked away, but now turned clear cold eyes on the girl, "But I hate people in general. Hate is such a strong emotion, though," he went on, moving toward Kagome, obviously aiming to arose fear in her, merely by the way he spoke and gazed at her, "and it drives people to do terrible things...such terrible, psychotic things. I do thank you so much for deciding to show yourself here, despite what an odd area it is. It means very much to me. However," he paused, close enough to her now to grab her, which he soon attempted to do, quite forcefully. His actions were meant to secure her hands behind her back with the strong grip of one clawed hand, and subdue any type of scream with the other clawed hand by covering her mouth. Only then would he continue to speak, saying only, "it may have been the stupidest thing you ever decided to do."

At first, she blinked at him with the "What the hell is wrong with you?" look, but she began to find herself backing off when he approached. Something was definitely weird about this guy, but before she could think anything else he had lunged. She squirmed and struggled, trying to get free but she knew it was pointless. She couldn't make a sound but the sound of her screaming muffled by his hand.

"Poor naive girl," the hanyou shook his head, faking pity in his voice, "How do they always end up being so stupid, though? Oh well," he shrugged. Soon his hand lifted from her mouth, only long enough for him to quickly deliver a swift blow to her head, which he knew she couldn't possibly dodge since he still held her in place. This blow would hopefully send the girl into darkness, as he was intending to knock her unconscious for easier transportation. Considering he had knocked out many before her, it wasn't likely that she would remain conscious, he had developed a skill of hitting the right place to send them into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

And it apparently showed. Kagome was having trouble thinking straight, and the blow to her head didn't help as everything swirled into a vortex of nothingness and she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Kagome moaned slightly, her head pounding painfully as the world began to spin into place, blurry and displaced. She felt the vertigo of waking up hit her, and she felt sick. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision, trying to figure out where she was, and where the hell that bastard had gone.

'That bastard,' sat not to far from where she was, glancing at her occasionally. All that could be seen of him was his molten amber eyes, that shone in the darkness of the room she was in. Poor Kagome would probably not see much else other than the hanyou's lantern eyes, as it was completely dark in the room where she was located. Hopefully, though, she would see better, though not well, when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, as human eyes tended to do.

The girl would find her arms held above her head, her wrists chained, and the chain that bound her wrists was attached to the ceiling. She hung from this chain by her wrists, her feet barely touching the ground. They were located in one of the abandoned buildings of the area, in a room without windows, but a doorway that only lead into more darkness throughout the rest of the dark building. There was a strong scent of blood in the air, but no scent of death nor decay, the bodies of past victims had been stored in other buildings in the abandoned area as to avoid such problems as the scent they caused.

Inuyasha must have seen her eyes open, as his eyes could see perfectly fine in the darkness surrounding the two beings, because he stood from whatever he'd been sitting on, and moved so that he was standing in front of her. At which point he looked her over, and if she could have seen his face well enough, she would know it held no emotion as of yet. "Welcome back to consciousness, girl. Hopefully you won't suffer too bad of a headache, that always puts them in such an irritable mood, and I'd rather not get annoyed with your screaming, not today. I don't take that very well, annoyance."

Things about the hanyou had definitely changed, he seemed entirely different from the boy she had met on the streets of Tokyo. His voice was incredibly cold, hinted with bitterness, and lined with hate. His eyes were hard, and cold also, a bit of insanity swirling in their depths, and further beneath the surface lay large amounts of pain, usually hidden to others unless they were just really skilled at reading one's eyes. This did not seem like a being ever capable of smiling, a fake smile or a serene one.

"The hell I have a headache," Kagome growled, glaring at him with her still-blurry vision. She shut her eyes to try and stop the slight dizziness before looking at his face more clearly. She knew screaming would mean nothing, so she stayed quiet. At least she had enough mind about her to at least think a little bit, though the thoughts were quite fuzzy, still.

"Where are we?" was all she managed to say, brown eyes focusing more and more intently on those cold golden ones in front of her.

The icy eyes stared right back into hers, narrowed slightly, though showing no anger or hate toward her. He just held anger and hate within him, directed at two very cruel and hopefully very dead people, though his emotions just seemed to get blasted out on those around him also.

"You are located in an abandoned warehouse. It has a bit of old junk further into it, but otherwise is empty besides my personal supplies. It is no longer used by anyone except me and possibly a stray cat here or there. This place for you, though, is more like a prison rather than a warehouse. I'm sure you've received that impression already," his eyes trailed up toward the chains binding her. "Now it is your prison, and eventually it will become your murder scene, and then your tomb. The rest of your life will be spent in these walls. I say so to rid you of hope, there is no need for you to rely on it only to have it fail you. I will not hide my intentions from you at this point. Nothing about your fate will be hidden to you, there is no point in that. I won't lead you on, I find giving the cold and bitter truth much more effective."

"Of course I've gotten the impression. You've done quite well in doing that," she responded disdainfully, eyeing the dark room and wiggling her wrists against the chain binds. Though, when he began to talk of killing her, he had grabbed her attention.

"One question- actually, two. First, what the hell do you want with me, and second, why are you doing this?" She glared angrily at him but said nothing more.

"I want absolutely nothing from you, unless your life counts, but it's not as if I'm taking it from you for personal gain. I wouldn't let something as silly as greed cause me to end lives, so I want nothing." The hanyou shrugged slightly, watching her with a somewhat calm expression. He then began to circle about her once or twice, looking her up and down, making silent observations, his dog ears flicking back and forth.  
"As for my motives, dear Kagome, they are really none of your business. I've no intention of sharing why I do the things I do with a victim, though I think you're my favorite so far. All of the others were too busy screaming to speak questions at this point, and I had not even touched them yet," the boy shook his head, with a quiet sigh, "Either way, I could be doing this for my own sick amusement, or I could have some other reason hidden within my thoughts. It's no concern of yours."

"I do think that it is rather apart of my concern," she snapped. "You know, considering that, hmm...well, it's your intent to do away with me?" Of course, she had tried to keep cool. That was her intent. If screaming wasn't going to do any good, she had better save her energy. Though, what she could do tied up like this, she hadn't quite figured out yet.

"Yes, I intend to kill you, but I do not have to tell you why. I do think I shall keep it to myself. However, if you think you're getting off easy with death, you're mistaken, my dear girl," the inu hanyou said, the chill in his voice definitely enough to make one shiver, "The days you spend here will be full of pain. You will remain here a year before death shall come, and during those days, you will suffer from torture, to be blunt about the entire thing. This experince is meant to be a nightmare, and so it will be. Believe me, girl, by the end of this year, you will welcome death, for it will be your haven from the pain. I will not be merciless, but I am not going to be easy on you either. However, this day you shall remain unharmed."

She could feel the tears well up in her eyes, but she didn't want to show that she knew that they were there. She only looked away, turning her face to the side. "Psychopathic bastard," she growled under her breath, which had quickened slightly. She didn't want to die, and she certainly didn't want torture. Hell no. But what could she do? She could try to figure out something, but it would more than likely prove futile.

"If you feel hate, than that's good, it shows you may be learning something. Anger, too. It means that you're not completely stupid. Though no insult will ever phase me, it's pointless to waste your breath on such a useless effort." Inuyasha shook his head, returning to the spot in front of her, his eyes trailing up and down her clothing. "Now first thing's first, the clothes must go." He looked down at his own claws, then approached her. "Otherwise they will cause more trouble than they're worth... I must remember to do this before chaining them, urgh."

Her thoughts, which had been chasing head and tail since she regained consciousness, had suddenly froze, just as every fiber of her body did. Her head snapped up and she glared at him wildly, as if daring him to come closer. "You keep away," she growled, struggling against the binds.

"And if I don't?" The hanyou moved closer, narrowing his eyes at her slightly, daring her right back to do something about his approach. "You're in a rather helpless position, girl. Arguing, and struggling will only make things harder on you."

She continued to try to struggle free in short, violent jerks as she continued to watch him all the while.

"You're only going to tire yourself. Draining your own energy won't help," the hanyou sighed, shaking his head. He was very close to her now, close enough to touch her. "You might as well stay still, this will be done whether you like it or not." He then shrugged, lifting a clawed hand, and slidding the dagger-sharp claw through the side of her shirt, despite her struggling, slicing the cloth, and cutting any under-garments as well, but no skin; his claw would touch her skin, but he wasn't applying enough pressure to break it. When that side had been cut all the way down, he did the same to the other side, so all upper clothing would merely fall off of her. The same method was used on her lower clothing also before he stepped back.

"Get away, you raving lunatic!" she had managed to yell, kicking her feet and struggling still, even after he had stepped back.

"Yes, yes, fuss all you want. It's over, there's no need, but whatever," Inuyasha shrugged, sitting down at a bit of a distance, on what was a bed that had been moved into the room, though it probably couldn't be seen amongst the shadows.

After a little while, she had stopped, feeling slightly fatigued, her still throbbing head urging her to slip into the world of sleep. However, the uncomfortable predicament she was in was telling her to stay awake and watch the sick man in front of her, to make sure he wouldn't do anything while she was unconscious. Sure, he said that yeah, he's going to torture her, but tomorrow, but she knew she couldn't trust him. Especially now.

Inuyasha had no reason to bother her while she slept or was unconscious. He didn't expect her to believe it, but every word from this moment on would be the truth, at least concerning her and her situation. Things about himself, however, he would hide. There were secrets he merely did not feel like sharing with her, or anyone else in the world for that matter, things his mind was trying to reject.

Kagome would not have to worry much longer. The hanyou was not exactly tired, he found that he didn't lose energy as much as he should. He supposed it was because he had spent his entire life exhausted, emotionally and physically, and now having a somewhat normal life-style of being allowed to rest whenever he pleased, and living rather comfortably, he didn't lose energy as much. His body had adjusted so much to his previous living conditions that these were so easy on him. Though he was not tired, he did lay down on the hidden bed eventually, consumed by shadows himself, before his glowing golden eyes disappeared behind the darkness of his eyelids, and he dozed off a while. Though he knew he wouldn't sleep long before his quite tormenting dreams awoke him as they always did.

Kagome had also managed to fall asleep, as hanging from the ceiling bound and naked left her feeling exhausted and violated. When she was sure that Inuyasha was alseep, she took the chance to catch her own rest.

By then, it was probably late into the day, and soon darkness began to fall outside, only making the shadows of the building expand, and the building to grow even darker.

* * *

Inuyasha awoke due to his violent nightmares, which hardly rose a whimper in him at this point, before the sun had risen again. It was still dark and it took a moment for his vision to clear from the blurriness of sleep. He shook his head, and yawned a little, ears pricking.

He had a lot of...well, not a lot of work, but quite a bit to do today concerning his little victim, it was time to introduce her to the world of pain she would dwell in, though he would start her off easy. His claws would be his own weapon today.

Luckily, Kagome was managing through a dreamless sleep, though the hanging from the chains instead of laying in a bed part kind of made it an uncomfortable situation. Still, even after Inuyasha had awoken, she was still sleeping.

The inu hanyou figured he could at least let her sleep until she woke up on her own, it shouldn't be too much longer anyway. So he just sat there, silently waiting and staring boredly at the darkness of the room, his ears flicking slightly.

Kagome whimpered slightly and her eyes opened a fraction, but she still felt dizzy and confused. Was is all a dream...? No... She could make out the outline of her kidnapper and future tormentor just out of the side of her eye. There was a small groan as she lowered her head again, feeling exhausted. Sad thing was, she probably hasn't felt true exhaustion. Not yet.

The inu hanyou's ears pricked, and he glanced at the girl, hearing her groan. "Awake, are we? Good morning, my little prisoner." He yawned, shaking his head, ears flicking. He had a slight amount of perkiness in his voice, a sort of excitement, though chances were he had forced it there mainly to creep her out a little. No part of him felt remotely happy anymore...actually, he had truly never felt happiness. He knew that everyone else in the world would dismiss that statement as some sort of stupid teenage angst, but it wasn't like he wanted to be unhappy, not that he was handling the situation very well. No one knew what had happened, though, so it didn't matter.

It indeed did creep her out, but she kept it to herself and just hung there silently. She looked to the side, away from Inuyasha, seeming to be lost in deep thought.

"Not going to speak to me, hm? That's awfully cold of you...come now, I'll be the only one around you for the rest of your life, you could at least say hello once and a while."

Kagome merely ignored him, still facing the other direction. She had nothing to say to the likes of him. Bastard.

"At least I don't have to tell you to shut up..." The hanyou shrugged, "Be silent if you wish, it really doesn't matter to me. Silence is easier on the ears anyway." Standing, the hanyou approached her, thinking silently.

She still ignored him, despite in her renewed alertness of her alarming situation, she could hear clearly every word he said. She was disturbed, violated... she did not want to talk, didn't want to think. At the moment, all she could think of was 'Why me?' 'How could I have let this happen? Idiot Kagome. Naïve idiot Kagome. Argh.'

"Hm...I wonder, since you don't speak, if you'll scream very much..." Inuyasha pondered, really just trying to waste time as he thought about things, his head cocking to the side a little. "Well, no need to delay what's coming, hm?" He was now quite close, close enough to lift a hand, and drive the dagger-sharp claws into her right arm, feeling said claws break the skin and dig deep into the flesh. His ears pinned back, in case some loud noise, scream or otherwise, escaped her; he didn't want his ears ringing for hours like the first time he tried this.

Kagome could see the hand coming, those gleaming youkai-ish claws moving in to render her skin and flesh. She flinched and struggled, but all that escaped her was a long squealing whine that was a scream strangled behind her lips and teeth. She could feel the warm, sticky blood run down her arm and the side of her torso, and she wanted to look away and unearth anything that was in her stomach, but nothing came out as the organ lurched.

All she could do was endure the pain, but no, she would not scream. If she could help it. He seemed to be getting some sort of sick satisfaction from this, but she won't give him the satisfaction of hearing her suffer. She tried to keep as silent as possible as pain was inflicted upon her.

Truthfully her pain did not satisfy him all that much; he was not doing these things for his own personal pleasure, he was not like him, and he would never allow satisfaction to be his reasoning. Any satisfaction felt was because, in his own unjustified, insane way, he saw this whole situation as helping her. Like most in Japan, he believed in the act of reincarnation, rebirth, and he assumed that after living and dying through this, his victims would be more grateful, careful people in their next lives. No, it did not completely make sense, but sense had long left him. He could comprehend nothing but torture and pain, thus why it was so easy for him to commit such horrible deeds; it was really all he'd been taught in life.

The inu hanyou paid little heed to her reactions, too busy gliding his claws through the flesh of her arm, as if they were running through water. The wounds he inflicted were deep cuts, but not too dangerous; he wouldn't let her die until he was ready for her to die.

She continued to squirm and hold back the screams she was so tempted to release full force, she could feel the claws lacerating her arm and the tears running rampant down her cheeks. Once, she almost did yelp out, but she had managed to bite her tongue. Rather painfully.

As the day moved onward, those claws moved from her arm, slicing other parts of her body. He didn't speak much, too focused on keeping the cuts painful but not fatal, to prevent bleeding to death, ect. It was a lot more complicated than it seemed, humans died so easily. When darkness began to fall and cast shadows throughout the building, Inuyasha finally backed off, stopping. "One day gone, only over 360 to go," he mumbled, looking at her with perked ears.

Kagome had not caved yet, but the sight of her own blood running down her skin sickened her muchly. She had gone limp- it didn't hurt as much this way- and her breath had become labored and quick. Her face showed the tell-tale signs of a steady stream of tears that had long dried out earlier that day. Every part of her stung with the gashes left by her captor, but she hadn't cried out yet even once. She at least had enough will power to keep her mouth shut.

She didn't respond when Inuyasha moved away- she probably didn't even notice he had stopped. She did glare at him after a moment, though only her eyes moved. Her brown eyes still had fire in them. She still hasn't given up. Maybe someone will look for her. Yes, but will they find her? That is the question. Not very likely, but she would still hope. Though, hope will not account for much her, now will it? Kagome mentally kicked herself to stop the flow of thoughts.

She wouldn't be found; she was no more special than the other girls who died here. People had looked for them, too, he was sure of it. However, none of them knew where to look, or even who to look for. It was near impossible for them to find him; somehow they never looked in these buildings, plus he left little to no leads for them. Even the scents leading to this area were covered soon after the capture. Somehow, he knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly how to do it. Why, he wasn't entirely sure.

The hanyou sat down on the bed in the room, sighing in slight boredum. There wasn't much else he could do for now, except wait until she healed enough for him to mess with her again. Causing injury too close together was also dangerous, and he had to be careful with the torture he inflicted. Technically, not all of her days would be drowned in pain; some of them would be for healing, if she needed it badly enough.

Well, there was nothing more she could do, and she definitely had much to say, but she kept her lips sealed. She just wanted this messed up day to end. She wanted to have sleep encroach upon her like a puma on its prey, but it didn't come. She shifted slightly with discomfort.

"Hm," Inuyasha sighed, ears flicking, "You're very boring; silence is nice and all, but it gets old. You should at least be insulting me by now, not that it'd really matter in the slightest..." He shrugged, "Oh well then. I can't expect all of them to be the same. We'll see how long your silence lasts when the pain is a bit more extreme. Today was a fairly easy one, what with it being your first day of torture and all. Tomorrow will be different."

She glared at him. Hope he didn't think she'd be quiet all the way through. If pushed far enough, she'd probably be screaming her head off at him. At the moment, she was too bothered by everything to think of anything to say so him, so she remained silent. Once she figured that he didn't care if she was quiet or not, she would eventually just not care herself.

Still, she remained silent, brown orbs glaring daggers at the hanyou.

And bitter, yet troubled, golden eyes stared back at her, calm and smooth, but cold, just like ice, frozen on the coldest winter night.

* * *

Author's Note

Yep everyone, Kagome is screwed. 8D -dodges flying objects- But what will happen? Surely she won't actually die! O After all, this IS a Inu/Kag story, but you readers must be curious as to how it's going to work at this point. In due time, my lovelies, as Inuyasha's past has a lot to do with that. ;D

Most of the rest of the year that Kagome's held captive will be described but not every single little event is played through. We don't have the time nor patience for that. .;

Either way, if you like the story and would like updates quickly, please review. :) Writers like to update more when they know their work is appreciated. -waves-

Silver and Wildfyre


	3. Release

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha nor any of the original characters of the series. If I did, do you think I'd be writing silly little fanfictions? Uh, no. -o-;

However, I do own the plot of Caged, therefore if you steal it, your fate will be similar to Kagome's. -nods solemnly-

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Author's Note

Welcome, welcome, to Caged's third chapter, where even more movement occurs to further the plotline. :O The year that Inuyasha keeps Kagome captive is, unfortunately, skipped through for the most part, as I hardly have to time to describe every single event that occurs. So we tell you what happens, but don't have the time to write it all out. XD;

There's still a bit of a deadness in the review section... D: If you're reading this fanfic, please write a quick review for it! I would like to have inspiration to keep updating this. It's very sad when no one seems to read or like your work, y'know? Heh.

Anyway, let's move along, shall we? Behold, and enjoy, chapter three of Caged. :)

* * *

Caged

Chapter 3: Release

* * *

So it was that the clock continued to spin, and time went on. It passed, though the days must've seemed like forever for one of the two in the empty building. The other seemed to find the days passing swiftly, though they always did. He sympathized, remembering a time when his days were long and painful just as his victims' were now, but he did not show such sympathy; it was a weakness.

The torture committed was, in fact, quite merciful, compared to things he could've done and things he'd experinced. His victims, however, would never understand that factor. He was sure all they knew was that it hurt, and he knew they hated him for it. As they should; he welcomed their hate, and would believe them foolish if they didn't feel it.

Torture included cutting, the breaking of bones, poisoning, small burns (he refused to make burns too severe; he hated fire, his experinces with it were horrible, horrible memories), injuries caused by different weapons such as blades of many sizes, whips, ect. He never harmed the girl enough to kill her, and if he caused her to bleed dangerously, he would actually treat the injuries. She was always well fed, and he tried to keep her rested enough. Despite all the other horrible things he did to her, he never bothered trying to starve her.

Something else that occured, though not very often, was, of course, the rape. During which she was removed from where she hung, because the chains that bound her wrists were removed from the cieling. Though he did not unchain her wrists, that was much too dangerous, she'd probably kill him if he took that risk. He didn't much care for raping her often; it was too much trouble, but secretly he didn't care for that action at all. He wasn't sure why he even did it at all, even if it was less forceful, less reckless, than most rape in the world. He didn't think any of his victims thought so.

She was spared from the neck up. Her throat was a dangerous area to cut, he didn't take the risk. Her face was not quite a dangerous area, he just felt no urge to disrrupt her beauty, even if he was sure she would die here.

Soon the time came, it had been exactly a year since the day of her capture, and the hanyou was ready to end her suffering. So far, he had not touched her or even came near her, he had merely sat on the bed, a small, silver gun in his clawed hands. He glared at it often, not at all caring for the human weapon that killed so many in the world. But he couldn't trust himself to kill instantly with a blade...if he missed... No, he didn't want the death to be painful, she had endured enough pain as his prisoner. Death was now the mercy he offered her, as well as his past victims. Life after tortore...it was not, at all, a pleasant experince.

And if she could hear all the thoughts running through her captor's head, she'd declare him a lunatic and scream at him for commiting such rash actions, no matter what the hell he had been through. However, she could not hear his thoughts, and not only that, at the moment, she was probably well broken in spirit at the moment. She had long ago quit caring about anything that happened to her in mind and body, it was so frequent that she had even stopped reacting much to whatever occured to inflict some sort of scar or pain upon her.

Now, Kagome just hung there, not looking at anything, her eyes glazed in that lustre that showed that she had already given up hope a while back. She didn't move- the only tell-tale sign that she was even living was the light breathing that made her torso move, and where her eyes would occasionally focus on the silver weapon in the hanyou's claws.

She wanted him to shoot, to end it all. She waited for it, wondering when it would come, if it would come. Would he decide to postpone and torture her more? She wondered. It was definitely a possibility.

His actions had little to do with his experiences; they just merely helped support the insanity, as well as the uncontrollable hate, that clouded his thoughts, and caused this twisted behavior. Things could've, would've been different. The fault was not completely his, not even completely the fault of those who hurt him... Things would be normal if...no, there was no point in thinking of that, now. That chance had ended, things hadn't gone the way he hoped, and now all of it was way over his head. He wasn't sane, though he didn't know that his sense was going to return soon. He thought himself condemned to madness at this point, nothing had ever gone the way it was supposed to and now it was beyond fixing.

Inuyasha stood, walking over to her and stopping in front of her, sighing quietly. "So, my darling little prisoner, are you ready to leave, then?" He glanced, with a bit of disgust, at the gun in his hand, then back at her. "It's all going to be over soon, I'm sure you're eager for it. But certainly you would tell me goodbye first. We have, after all, spent a whole year together." He felt like he was stalling...but he didn't understand why. There was no need to hesitate, and waste time. He had never done so before.

She glared at him much like she had the first day, despite most of the fire was gone from her eyes. But she kept as silent as ever, not talking to him at all. Yes, she wanted it to all be over, but the hell would she die without some kind of protest. Angrily, she spat at the ground in front of him.

"Well that's no proper farewell." The hanyou said, blinking at the floor where her spit so disgustingly fell, probably amidst her own bloodstains. His ears flicked slightly, and with a shrug, he rose the gun, one clawed finger sitting lightly against the trigger, waiting to apply the pressure and cause it to fire.

He tilted his head to the side, continuing to watch her with those same, cold yet calm molten amber eyes. "Well then, ready to die?"

Kagome just watched him, willing all of the hate that she had come to acquire during the past year to flare up in the brown irises of her eyes as she glared at him indignantly with the most pride she could muster.

"Don't miss," she growled hoarsely.

"I don't intend to. Goodbye, Kagome."

Then Inuyasha attempted to pull the trigger, only to blink when he didn't hear the deafening sound of the gun firing. He then realized it was not the fault of the gun; he could not find the will to apply the pressure needed to fire it. It was as if every bit of his strength was being put into pulling that trigger, and his clawed finger would not budge. He was drowned in confusion.

It wasn't that he couldn't kill her; he wouldn't kill her. This completely confused him, he had never, never hesitated to kill before. With a growl, he attempted again. He felt his heartbeat increase, even skip a beat, and a bit of fear swell in his mind. Why, he wasn't sure, but something would not let him end her life. It was the strangest thing he'd ever experinced. Why did his emotions protest so much? Why did the thought of killing her seem so horrible? What the hell was wrong with him?

The silver gun flew from his hand, slamming forcefully into the wall, letting out one shot before blasting into many small pieces. The gunshot rang in the silence, echoing painfully in his ears. The bullet hit nothing, where it went was a mystery to him. He cursed repeatedly under his breath, looking at Kagome with a sigh. "Dammit, dammit, fuck, fuck, fuck..."

Kagome flinched with a slight shriek, her head against her shoulder and her eyes shut tight. Her ears rang from the deafening blow, but she didn't feel her suffering go away. The scars weren't washed away by the bullet she expected to rush through her flesh already. Slowly, she opened her eyes, trying to figure out what went wrong.

"Urgh, this is bad..." Inuyasha mumbled quietly under his breath, walking over to the bed that he often sat on. He took a blanket from it, then went over to where Kagome hung. If he couldn't kill her and end the pain, he had no other option but to release her so that she might return to her family and friends. That was the best thing he could do for her right now, even if it meant more than likely being arrested, as he was sure she would send the police after him the first chance she got. He quickly unchained her bound wrists, so she was no longer forced to hang there. He let the blanket fall beside her, since he wouldn't send her out without some sort of covering... Then he quickly stepped back, watching her.

"I dunno if this makes you lucky or unlucky. Whatever it is, leave. Get out. Go home."

Kagome collapsed on the ground, her muscles terribly weak from a year of not being used properly. Not only could her legs not feel like they would be able to sustain her weight, her brain couldn't seem to be able to sustain her thoughts. What was going o- why? What's wrong with him? The odd feeling on shock rushing through her pinned her in place.

"Get out, goddamn you!" The hanyou growled, glaring at her, too blinded by confusion to understand himself right now. He just wanted her gone, out of his presence. "Before I fucking change my mind!"

That certianly jerked her from whatever reverie she had fallen into. She shook her head slightly, feeling her achings arms move for the blanket, which she promptly wrapped around herself before struggling to her feet and leaning heavily against the wall. Slowly, the girl had left the building, struggling to find her way back home.

Inuyasha glared at her until she was gone, confusion temporarily being replaced with anger, even if he wasn't all that sure why he was angry. Confusion was not a good emotion for him, he supposed. When the girl was gone, he sighed, collapsing back on the bed as if he were exhausted. Which he kinda felt that way, but he couldn't give a decent explanation as to why he would be so tired. It was a very familiar feeling...

With a shrug, his golden eyes stared blankly at the dark ceiling above, thoughts swirling about in his mind and causing quite the headache. "Congratulations, Inuyasha, you just fucked yourself over. Not that it'll greatly change your life..." He mumbled, silently wondering what the police or the law could do to him that he wasn't already immune to. Imprisonment...no, that was no problem for him, he was well used to it.

Death...that would be their best option; it would not at all bother him, since death is something he'd often longed for, but Kagome, as well as parents of his other victims, would probably be somewhat satisfied with it. Pain...he was pretty sure they weren't allowed to physically hurt him, but if they did, he didn't think he'd mind all that much; he had grown quite numb to pain. As one does after feeling it constantly for years.

* * *

Eventually, Kagome had made it back to her house, greeting by cries of relief and anguish- finally reunited after a year. They had thought she was dead, but here she is now, back at home and alive, though, not well at all. She seemed er.. "healthy" enough by health's standards, she had apparently been kept fed, but she wasn't healthy in the mind. The scarring of her body didn't help much, either. Promptly after her arrival back home, though, they had immediately contacted the police.

Sooner or later, a squad of police had broken into where Inuyasha had been staying, where they had trooped in through several places to make sure there wasn't room fore escape before apprehending the hanyou. They had to be prepared in case he would put up a fight, though.

Oh there was no point to that. The inu hanyou may be the only criminal to think such, but he felt that since he had committed the crimes, then he deserved whatever punishment they threw at him. There was no use in running. Had he truly wanted to run and get away from the arrest he knew was coming, he would've left the building where he had kept her. Though he stayed, waiting for it. He would not come to them, but once they found him, he would see no reason to fight against it.

No need to make his situation worse. Things had been hard his entire life, there was no need to cause unnecessary conflict.

When they found him, they would probably be surprised by his 'cooperation.'

And indeed they were surprised, and soon after the arrest, they had led the hanyou away to the car to speak of the Miranda rights and all that before they would all head back to the police station and immediately locked him up.

* * *

Author's Note

Well, there's Chapter three for you. :3 Now what's going to happen to Inuyasha? Who knows? I do, but you'll have to wait until Chapter four! ..which, ironically enough, I intend to post very soon. So no having to wait too long, my lovelies. x3

Sesshoumaru'll show up in the next chapter! How very interesting, eh? Hope to see you around then. Please leave me your comments and criticism (kindly, of course) in a review! It'll make me very happy:DD

-Silver and Wildfyre-


	4. Big Brother

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. I only own the plot of Caged, which is mine and mine alone. -growls threateningly-

* * *

Author's Note

Well, here is the 4th Caged chapter. 3 Like I said in the last chapter, Sesshoumaru shows up in this chapter! Sesshoumaru's parts are written by Wildfyre- as are the parts of the judge. My personal parts increase as the story goes on, as like I said previously, I mainly play the evil roles. ;D

The trial starts in this chapter, too. It's a short process, but nonetheless, the plot gets deeper and deeper! ;O So stick around as from this point on, more and more is going to be revealed about Inuyasha and his past, as well as what happened to turn him into a serial killer in the first place.

So without further ado, I present Caged, Ch. 4!

* * *

_Caged _

_Chapter 4: Big Brother_

* * *

The court trial would be about a couple days from now, and he wondered if he had any line of defense yet-- not very likely. He probably wasn't all that great at getting things such as this together. There was a sigh, and a tall demon walked into the police station, asking to see someone by the name of Inuyasha. The guard nodded and asked for his affiliation, of course, that being that he was his brother, come to see how he was handling his court affairs. Promptly after, Sesshoumaru found himself being led to the hanyou's cell.

The man looked about in his late 20s, though, being the demon he was, that image was probably very deceiving. Long platinum silver hair fell below his waist, and deep golden eyes glared from beneath silver bangs. Two purple streaks on each cheek, the claws on his hands and the tail curled about his shoulder were what really stood him out.

The guard soon left Sesshoumaru standing outside the hanyou's cell, where the demon waiting for Inuyasha to notice.

The inu hanyou's ears were pricked forward, twitching at each sound made. They had probably caught the sound of his footsteps as the inu youkai approached. The imprisoned hanyou's eyes were not turned toward the other, though, he seemed to hold little interest in paying attention. In truth, the sound of footsteps had probably not even registered to him. He was lost within himself and his thoughts at the current time, things were complicated and he was trying to sort it all out.

Finally, though, those golden eyes rose, and the boy blinked. He didn't speak, though. This could easily be a play on his mind, because he had simply not seen his older brother in years. Years... He could not come up with a decent reason as to why he would be seeing him now. The hanyou had only been a pup, but his memory had been amazing when he was younger, despite much damage to his head. He had recognized the inu youkai instantly.

And that told him that his brother had ended up much more sane than himself. Of course, he was full youkai, and the torture from their home wore less on him than the younger hanyou, he was sure. That, and they were quite different when it came to control themselves, if he could remember. Inuyasha's emotions had always been difficult to hold back, and they always found their way out. They were always too strong for him, thus explaining why his hate had taken him to such an extreme level when he lost control of it.

Sesshoumaru stared back at him quietly for a few long moments before speaking. "Inuyasha...it's been, how long now? Huh, so long that I can't even really remember." He spoke in a rather dull voice, as was his wont to talk when he really didn't feel too much like being someplace. He was here, rather, because he felt more of a responsibility to be, and because he had a call reach him somehow contacting him that they had his half-brother in custody. How the hell they even got his number was beyond him, but he was here now anyway.

However, Sesshoumaru decided to get to the point. "So, first, how did you manage to escape from home? Second, why are you in prison?" He decided to be blunt about it, he wasn't even sure if the hanyou would talk. He certainly didn't look like he would want to, but eh, it was worth a shot. Maybe.

Inuyasha did not really feel like speaking, but he supposed sitting there in silence was not going to do much good at all. He didn't want to seem like he was ignoring his brother, though, that would seem much too rude to him; though the relationship was not a strong one, it was the only decent family relationship he had.

"They didn't tell you that? Why I'm here..." His voice was quiet, yet it still sounded too loud for some strange reason. Maybe it was just quiet in the building...he mentally shrugged, ears flicking back and forth.

He sighed, "This is all a very long story...one I don't really care to tell very much..."

"Care to summarize, then?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow in slight curiousity. "I won't be able to help you get out if you can't take the time to fill in all the blanks. I will assume that you don't even have an attorney yet, for whatever you're being charged for? And, no, the law office did not inform me of what had happened, so I guess that leaves you wide open to provide some sort of explanation." He lost some of the boring monotonous tone in his voice as he talked with a little more interest.

If it all came to it, he supposed he would be the hanyou's attorney, that, or hire someone he thought might do well in his place. But for that to work, he'd need information so that he would be able to work out an arguement for Inuyasha's defense in court.

"'Help me get out?' I don't want to get out, I'm guilty of everything I'm being charged for, there's no point in trying to 'get out.' What place does a murderer have in the outside world anyway?" The inu hanyou sighed, his ears pinning back slightly. He couldn't comprehend it, nothing made sense. This regret...it hadn't been there before. Why did he suddenly feel so disgusted by his own actions, when it had never plagued his conscience before. He didn't like it, feeling this way, being so confused, not understanding his own thoughts or actions...

"I do hope you have time to waste..." With another, somewhat hopeless sigh, the boy began his miniature epic tale of death, well, haha, that's certainly what it seemed like. He didn't go into ever specific detail, but he didn't bother leaving anything out. He already expected to be punched in the face for his stupid actions, hence why he tried to emphasize on everything he did to try to find a _good_ way out.

It had started then, four years ago, when he had been 15. Not exactly the best age to be on his own, it was still a point that needed parental support, but he definitely wouldn't find it at home. For the first time in his life, courage had arose long enough for him to fight against those sickos that dared call themselves his parents. From what he knew, he had killed them. Then he didn't know what to do except get out of that damned, horrible house.

The sheltered life he lived trapped there made him ignorant to the outside world. He didn't know a hospital existed, and that it would help him with the many wounds of his body. He didn't have a damned clue as to what to do with himself now. So he tried asking assistance from the many people out on the streets of Tokyo; it hadn't worked. He couldn't understand why, but all the people he spoke to ignored him, pushed him aside, not taking a selfless moment to give him some kind of idea as to what he could do. He had just killed people who had hurt him for 15 long years, he couldn't say he wasn't terrified. But he was, apparently, not important enough; one of the few things his horrible parents had taught him was that he was worthless. He almost started to believe them.

It was the fear, the pain, the anger that caused his lapse of insanity, he was sure, as he wandered alone through the dark Tokyo streets, bleeding but not entirely caring. He had to heal on his own, and learn to survive in this world on his own. Inuyasha had never had a good impression of people; this didn't help. After healing had came, he attempted to socialize, find those about his age. He was unaware, at that point, of the turmoil of emotions inside him, unaware that it was all about to overflow. He met a girl. A strange girl, she spoke in a high pitched voice and rambled on about useless things. She complained, ranted about her life and her parents, claiming she hated them for not letting her do this and buy that, talking about how horrible it was at home when it really wasn't. That is exactly what had made him snap, this horrible appreciation for a life ten times better than some. These people complained of suffering...they didn't know suffering, and thus insanity flooded, and he decided to show them exactly what suffering was.

It was like that for three years. He found victims, he tortured them, and he killed them, all until Kagome...

The hanyou seemed to speak quieter when he reached the part of his story that included her, his eyes constantly on the ground, his heart, once again reminding him it was still working, pounding with the guilt he felt, though he was unaware as to why he felt that way. He had released her, she had him arrested, and here he was. That was all there was to it. He had ran, went mad, murdered, and now he'd been caught and he was here. How he had let himself become so out of control was also beyond him. He could comprehend little of his situation. He was not happy with himself, and he expressed these thoughts of disgust and confusion, though he mumbled the words. Finally, though, he was quiet.

Sesshoumaru remained quiet the whole time, big surprise there, right up until Inuyasha had finished speaking. He didn't seem to show much surprise; actually, he seemed to have looked more exhausted than anything. He was aware of what Inuyasha had gone through back at home, it was one of the very reasons he had to leave and move somewhere far away. However, given the circumstances, he couldn't take Inuyasha with him, he would have ended up being caught, thus leaving no hope for either of them. That, and he didn't look forward to trying to come back while Inu Taisho was still alive. For that reason, he had severed all contacts with his birth family.

But here he is right now, standing next to a prison cell in which his young half-brother was imprisoned in.

After a moment's more of silence, he decided to speak. "So, charged for first degree murder on several accounts," he mumbled more to himself. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't blame you, but even so, that was an extreme way to handle yourself." However, he had no room to speak, seeing as how most of their parents' anger seemed to have been driven towards the younger sibling anyway. That, and he wasn't the one who went through the trauma the hanyou had most obviously experienced.

"Well, either way, we still need to get you out. We may not be close, but I will not see you put to death, either, deserving or not." He watched the hanyou with his intense golden eyes. "Though, I must ask, why did this final girl give you a change a heart? Do you have any clue?" It was an idle question, one he merely used so that he may gather his thoughts. Plus, yes, he was a little curious.

"Mm...none whatsoever. Nothing was different...she was no prettier than the others, nothing amazing at all... It's driven me insane and I just can't sort it out at all. What the hell was it about her that made me hesitate...? It doesn't make a bit of sense..." The inu hanyou sighed, frustrated with his confusion on the matter. His ears flicked back and forth as his thoughts ran wild, trying to come up with some reason.

"Why must I get out, really? What's wrong with just letting them kill me?" He asked quietly, looking around the cell just to have something to do. He didn't exactly want to live, he didn't know what he would do with himself.

"Hmm. Well, we need to get you out because if you die now, then what will you have learned yourself? You thought that you were teaching all of those people a lesson, but have you taught yourself the lesson? You won't know until you can get out of here and learn to live like a normal man. Being in this crazed state, nothing will go well, but you could probably get out of it if you tried harder." He shrugged. "However, at this point, the thing we need to focus on is getting you an attorney."

"...I don't really care enough to accept that reasoning and continue living. I'd rather just die... Normal life is going to be very difficult after all of this. No methods to support myself, either. At this point, I'm pretty sure nothing about me will ever be 'normal,' I don't think it's worth the effort. Where will it get me? Nowhere. This could've been prevented in the beginning, but it just didn't work out that way, so I think I'm pretty much just screwed over." Inuyasha shrugged, with a sigh, "But whatever, you can try to get me out if you want, but goodluck with that, because I'm not sure it's possible."

"Nothing's going to be possible if you don't give some lee way and work with me here," he snapped, narrowing his eyes slightly. "And you could live a normal life if you really put your mind to it. I may not have suffered as much as you, not even close, but I've been there, and I made it out fine. For the most part, anyway. I may not be in the delusional world you are in right now, but you can work it out. You can make it work out. Right now, being a damn pessimist like you are right now is what will pretty much screw you over." He crossed his arms with a quiet sigh.

"Well, if you're not going to get yourself someone to defend you, I guess I'll just have to do it myself," he added, leaning on the wall adjascent to the cell. "Whether or not you think it is worth the effort, I do not care, honestly. I'll make it worth the effort, if that's possible."

"I don't think you're in any position to preach to me, or lecture me. You weren't there, goddammit, you left! Hell, I should consider you dead to me." The hanyou snapped back, his own eyes narrowing, his ears pinning back against his head.

"It isn't that easy, saying that things can be normal if you 'try.' It doesn't always fucking work! And do you think I WANT to be a pessimist? Did I ASK to be this way? No! But sometimes you can't help but be pessimistic when nothing has ever been GOOD. Things didn't go as well for me as they did for you, I would appreciate if you realized that."

"And how damn effort did you put into this? I said you need to MAKE it work. Nothing is going to happen if you dwell on the past. I know I wasn't there, I never suffered as much as you did, but you need to get your thick head out of the gutter and THINK. Of COURSE it's not working! Just look at yourself! You've demoted yourself to teaching other people that they should appreciate life, but you don't even appreciate your own!" Sesshoumaru bristled slightly, but he hadn't moved the all the while he spoke.

"I was not _SANE_ when I made those decisions! I had every intention, every fucking intention, of turning things around the moment I left that house, and living a normal life. But it just didn't turn out that way! I sure as hell didn't wish for my plan to fail, but it did. Do you think I like the decisions I made? Because you'd be wrong. I hate those decisions...they made me just like _him_. I take no pride in that.

"So what if I try and make a normal life work? It'd be spent alone, with about 99 of Japan knowing me as a murderer and a half-breed. Normal life is probably more dangerous than prison. How would it work? Even with my effort, there would still be no means of support. I can't very well get money through a job when I have no education, and I don't have any way to get the education I need. Without money, there'd be no house, no food, no nothing. So what about that?"

"Considering I'd be willing to get you out here, it wouldn't be hard to get you some help, either," he replied calmly, though, Sesshoumaru couldn't really think of a way to get around Inuyasha's stubborness, so he remained silent after that.. Better to talk to the hanyou when he's cooled down a bit.

After a moment more of being silent, the youkai decided to ask again the question Inuyasha had not yet answered. "Well? Have you gotten any line of defense for yourself?"

"Of course not, I had no intention of bothering with defense. My intention was to make the situation easy by pleading guilty, but you fucked that up, didn't you?"

"Try to work with me here, dammit," he replied, placing his fingers on his forehead.

"They're not going to let you go to your trial without an attorney unless you stand for yourself, so you might as well get someone get to help you out, whether you think it's worth it or not."

"Whatever," the hanyou snorted, already tired of this meeting. "I couldn't care less how things go."

Sesshoumaru suppressed a growl of frustration. He had anticipated that the meeting would be difficult, but this? Argh. Just, argh. He shut his eyes for a moment before standing up straight and straightening his clothes. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

"I suppose it is," the hanyou shrugged, staring quite boredly at the cieling of his cell.

Seshoumaru decided now was a good time to leave, as he, too, was quickly tiring of the frustrating conversation. Over the next week, he had made arrangements to make himself Inuyasha's attorney (as a qualified lawyer, he as able to; and since Kagura, his mate who was also into the law office occupation, she could not take the post as she had intended. -It was she who convinvinced Sesshoumaru to come here in the first place.-), and sooner than it had seemed the trial had finally encroached.

* * *

Sesshoumaru sat idly in a wooden chair behind the desk of the defendant's table, arms crossed in boredom as he waited for the judge to call the court to attention. Golden eyes flickered as they glanced at the small group of jurymen and women sitting to the right. No media though- they had been forbidden from entering the court room. Slowly, he could hear the court room filling in with spectators, but he didn't bother to look around.

Inuyasha was not at all looking forward to this; he would be bored out of his mind the entire trial. He wouldn't really know what to do with himself, as he was not sure what to say or anything of the sort now that Sesshoumaru had turned his plan around completely. Pleading guilty and sealing his much-deserving fate would have been so much easier, and taken less time.

He was not looking forward to seeing Kagome again, but knew she was most likely to be present at the trial, considering his charges came from her, as she was his only living victim. But he was sure he, or rather his subconscious as well as his heart and emotions, would react, and feel pangs of empathy, guilt, and most of all, regret. Such emotions were unfamiliar to the hanyou, and he had yet to figure them out; their presence in his mind unsettled him.

As if on cue, Kagome and a woman that looked as if she was in her late twenties/early thirties, most obviously Kagome's attorney, had approached their own side of the front of the court. Aoi and the rest of the family settling themselves uncomfortably behind them, none of the large group looking towards the silver haired half-brothers. It took moments for the murmuring around the court to finally quiet down, but by the sound of the judge's mallet upon the pedestal sent the whole room into a still silence. A deafening silence in Kagome's point of view, but silence still.

"Court is now in session..." the judge began, going into all the details concerning the case at hand, and both Inuyasha and Kagome's involvment in the incident. Kagome Higurashi was pressing charges against Inuyasha Taisho for degrees of assault, torture, murder and rape.

"Will the plaintiff please take the stand?" With that, Kagome went up and sat at the witness's stand, retelling once again her horrible experience from over the past year, from the meeting on the street, to the dingy slums of downtown Tokyo, to the torture, up until the very last moment where Inuyasha had failed to pull the trigger and had let her go for some unbeknownst reason.

The judge nodded and the jury had been jotting down many notes throughout the retelling. From there, Sesshoumaru had gotten up to ask her a few questions and sat down.

"And now will the defendant please take the stand?" Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha.

"Whatever you do, just don't plead guilty."

The hanyou sighed, his whole, simple plan disrupted, much to his disappointment. He stood, not at all looking forward to speaking in front of these people, knowing that there was a good, talented smart-ass inside him just waiting to get out. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, if he wasn't supposed to admit to his crimes, but somehow he supposed he'd manage. He would just have to resist being in a 'none of your business,' phase, which is how he felt.

He had never been in a court trial before, nor had he really witnessed one, so the process was a little new to him. He assumed, though, it was his turn to do exactly what Kagome had done, so he basically followed her example, ears flicking slightly.

Kagome's critical attorney walked up to the stand and began to pace in thought as lawyers do. "So..." she began, stopping in front of the hanyou, eyes scrtutinizing over his face. "Your story fits Kagome's retelling of what had happened to her almost word of word," she commented, pacing again. "So, tell us, why did you do it of all reasons? And ultimately, why did you let her go? Are you going to plead guilty, sir, or do you have some obscene way to hide behind some sort of reason?"

To Sesshoumaru, the woman didn't seem to make much sense- where was she going with this? However, he sat quietly and listened regardless.

Inuyasha looked bored, his ears flicking back and forth. He was annoyed at the woman but hardly bothered to glare at her. He seemed to handle anger well, oddly enough. Kagome had probably noticed this as his prisoner, he had a rather calm composure, despite he could lose control quite easily under certain circumstances. Just very little really angered him anymore, though he did grow annoyed quite easily.

He didn't really know how to answer the questions without really admitting that he did it, otherwise saying he was guilty. Sesshoumaru had to make things so complicated for him... Why couldn't he just plead guilty and be over and done with this? Hmph...

"I have no answers for you, nor anyone else for that matter. The 'whys,' are just as much of a mystery to me as they are to you, sorry to disappoint." He snorted, knowing well he had reasons, but none he was willing to discuss in public nor in front of so many people.

"Uh huh." She jotted a few notes onto the little notebook at the plaintiff's table after she had sat down. "That will be all, your honor," she said aloud, sitting back into her chair.

* * *

Author's Note

Well there are you, chapter four. D I think the most important part in this chapter is Sesshoumaru's sudden appearance. In the next chapter, Inuyasha's past will be completely revealed for the most part, and we'll meet someone who you may call the 'villian,' of the story. So stick around, as things are definitely going to be heated next time!

Please read and review, and tell me what you think of my joint-effort fanfic here. Thanks!

-Silver and Wildfyre-


	5. Animal I Have Become

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha, the anime or the manga series, nor do I own any of its original characters. I also do not own "Animal I Have Become," that is strictly property of Three Days Grace.

However, Caged and it's original storyline are all my original ideas, and thus belong entirely to me. Please respect this and keep your hands off of it. 8D

* * *

Author's Note

This is the fifth Chapter of Caged! In this chapter, we learn exactly what Inuyasha's past has been like, and we meet a very important character. There are quite a few important details in this particular chapter. -nods- It's probably the most revealing chapter thus far, so I suggest paying close attention.

This chapter also uses the lyrics of Three Days Grace's "Animal I Have Become," hence the title of the chapter. This is because the lyrics in particular relate very much to Inuyasha's character in this plotline. Plus I like the song, hehe. Alright, here we go, I won't hold you off any longer. ;D

* * *

Caged

Chapter Five: Animal I Have Become

* * *

And, pretty much, the whole court session went in circles from thereforth. What happened, why did it happen? What could possibly be behind his intentions- insanity, abuse as a child? Sesshoumaru found himself rolling his eyes often, wondering why humans always dragged these types of cases for so long. After a few more hours of the nonsense, though, court was put on recess for until tomorrow.

Sesshoumaru stood up to stretch slightly when he froze, spotting someone tall with long silver hair standing in the back of the room. He didn't speak, but he stared, looking a little shocked and disturbed, whatever had leaked into his expression.

Kagome on the other side of the room was talking busily, almost angrily with her attorney, her mother and grandfather interupting occasionally.

Inuyasha's ears flicked, and he sighed in his boredum, before feeling an odd, familiar yet strange feeling dig its way into his thoughts. Without reason, as he had yet to see the sight Sesshoumaru's eyes had, the hanyou found himself tensing, and losing his breath. He had spent so much time in that home of his that this reaction had been very common; he had always felt it in _his_ presence. The huge amounts of fear and dread, the stiffness of his body, the difficulty breathing... How was this possible now?

_He_ was dead, that man was dead, Inuyasha had watched him fall, he had killed him personally. There was no way that he could be nearby that was impossi...

It seemed now that the inu hanyou noticed the odd expression on his older half-brother's face; this did not help his growing fear in the slightest. Even without confirming these fears, his heart was pounding, and his ears were beginning to pin back slightly. He didn't really want to do so, but he followed Sesshoumaru's gaze, spotting the sickly familiar youkai. That was when the boy stopped breathing completely, he couldn't seem to do so anymore, and he visibly flinched. Kami...

He didn't much feel like going along with the 'getting out of prison,' plan now; he was sure he'd prefer death...

"You know, I thought you said you killed him," Sesshoumaru muttered, his voice, wavering slightly, was barely audible, but he was positive the hanyou could hear him. He did not like to know that the fact that that man was still alive, and the very aura he could feel from that youkai being there even shook him up.

Kagome, who had glanced from her attorney for a second ended up spotting the brothers' deer-in-the-headlights looks and followed their gazes, confused.

"I thought I did!" The hanyou growled, though quietly, trying to keep that all-too-familiar youkai's eyes off of him at all costs. He was so damn sick of that man's glares. "Dammit, he probably made a deal with the goddamn devil knowing that bastard... Urgh, I saw him die, I know I did! If he wasn't dead, then how in the hell did I go four years without him coming after me...?" Then again, the inu youkai could've easily been teasing him; he would do that. "This is impossible..." He sighed, shaking his head. This was a nightmare, it had to be. There was no way it could be reality, that was over, it was all over, this couldn't be happening...

But there was no denying it. It was impossible that it was anyone else, also. He knew those golden eyes and that silver hair all too well, so similar to his own features... They really weren't much different now, were they, him and that man...he was positive his eyes were just as bitter, if not more so. He hated that...but not much could be done about it...

"Can I just plead guilty and die now? Because if I'm freed, I'll end up right back in that damned house one way or another... Living isn't worth that pain anymore..." He shuddered, knowing that if he was put back in that prison, things would only be worse than before for his acts of rebellion. He wouldn't be killed, but he'd be wishing for that every second that he lived, he knew it all now. He was wise enough to that man's ways to know...

How could he stand there, looking so harmless? The hanyou snorted, his ears pinning back. Harmless as a starving, rabid wild dog surrounded by many helpless people. Though no one would expect such by looking...

Inuyasha was shaking, but that didn't surprise him. A small dam had been just holding back the painful, horrible flood of memories, and it just broke. It felt almost like being on fire...but he knew what that felt like, and it wasn't exactly the same. This was just really bad...really really bad.

Sesshoumaru felt himself shudder with dread before he finally had the motive to finally look away.

"Well, look at it this way. If we leave you in prison, he will probably still find a way to get to you and harm you before you are even put to death. Knowing him, he will find a way." Trying to keep his voice steady, he shook his head, rubbing his temples with his forefingers. "This is bad..."

Kagome looked back and forth between the three men, feeling slightly confused. What the hell's got that jerk so riled up? She ought to go over there and hit him right now for all he did, but self restraint and curiosity kept her from doing so. From the other side of the court room, Kagome approached Inuyasha. "What the hell's going on here?" It's not like it was any of her business, but even so-

"Yer right, he could easily bribe his way in..." The inu hanyou mumbled, with a frustrated sigh, his ears almost pinned flat against his head. With all that money that his father had, he could bribe anyone to allow him to do anything. That's why it was pointless to report him to the police or anything like that; he'd have his way bribed out of prison in a week's time...

Inuyasha's ears perked slightly because he heard footsteps coming toward him, and looking up, he instantly blinked, seeing Kagome approaching. Now why in the world would she be coming near him anyway? When she spoke, he blinked again, and looked at her almost as if she were crazy. Which she sort of was in her opinion, walking right up to someone who had almost been her murderer. "Something that doesn't concern you," he replied, putting a lot of effort into keeping his voice, as well as his body, from shaking so that he could maintain that calm yet cold composure he had always met with her since the day of her capture. Maybe it would remind her exactly who he was and she'd go away. She had no business prying into his life, and he'd be damned if he ever told her a single bit of his past, even if part of him wanted to. It was his only petty defense, plus she was about the only person besides Sesshoumaru, who had hardly been around long enough, who could actually relate to his situation at this point. Though he kept himself from speaking of it; she probably held no interest in his past and would only get angry if she knew, he was sure.

He was not at all eager to be in her presence, though; she caused guilt, and guilt was an emotion he was not used to handling. He didn't like it.

"I have every damn right to know!" she snapped, slamming her palms upon the defendant's desk. "Nothing could possibly be too personal for you to tell to me, so you better speak! After the past year, after you getting into MY personal space, MY personal life... what the hell's going on here?" she repeated, standing up and crossing her arms with a glare.

Well, she definitely got her spirit back, it wasn't hard to see. Didn't take long, but after so long, she had time to mull over what has happened to her for so long and she wasn't exactly going to let the hanyou get off without her giving him her two cents.

"You have _NO_ fucking right to know!" Inuyasha snarled, becoming aggressive on the subject, which was truly unlike all other behavior he'd shown in the past. He had never really lost his nerve before, somehow always maintaining that calm, bitter aura about him. Now anger flared quite clearly, probably triggered by the fear. It was pure driven instinct to act furiously when afraid, all wild animals do it. His fangs bared slightly, the fur on his pinned-back ears even bristling a little. His claws dug into the same desk she slammed her hands on, though he was probably unaware of that fact.

"Keep your nose OUT of my life, bitch! It's for your own damn good, trust me." He snorted, bitter eyes narrowing as he glared quite viciously at her, a growl still rumbling clearly in his throat. He had no intention of sharing anything with her, he didn't feel he needed to. She had the right to throw him in prison, had the right to have him put to death, even the right to bitch him out completely for his actions. Though under no circumstances was he obliged to speak of his past to her; it was none of her business, and no, she did not have the right to know; it had nothing to do with her.

"Trust you? Trust you?! And why the hell should I do that? Keep my nose out of YOUR life? Did you give me the chance to say the same to you before you tortured and raped me? Why didn't you keep YOUR nose out of MY life, you filthy bastard?!" she shouted back, vibrating with anger. Angrily, she swung her hand out to slap him.

Oddly enough, there were quite a few spectators, but no one was trying to intervene.

With a sigh, the inu hanyou raised a clawed hand to catch hers, not intending to be harmed by such a small threat. He shook his head, knowing his reflexes were probably way too good for her to cause him any real harm. She was nothing compared to his father.

"Well I'm trying to do that now, idiot, but with you approaching me randomly, it's not very easy to stay out of your damn life!" The boy hissed, continuing to glare at her, his ears pinned back even further. "Even if I felt you cared enough about my words to actually speak them, it would only cause you more trouble than it's worth, and I doubt you would be able to comprehend a single bit of it." He snorted again, knowing well that even though she had suffered one year's worth of torture, there was no way she could understand his past.

It was far too different, even the torture was lighter, merciless, for her compared to that man standing only feet away from him. Such an unsettling thought.

"Can you not settle for your hatred and keep your goddamn distance?"

"No," she growled, wrenching her wrist from his hand. "No I cannot. After what you put me through, and after what you had put many other young women through, I just cannot keep my 'goddamn distance.' And you know what? 'Not easy to keep out of your damn life,' you say. Maybe you should have thought of that BEFORE you freaking kidnapped me! You say I wouldn't be able to comprehend what you'd say? Then _try me_." Kagome stamped off, knowing well that she probably wouldn't get anything out of him right now. She's have to pry it our of him later. Weird thing was, she didn't even know WHY she wanted to know, she just did.

Sesshoumaru stood there, blinking, but not forgetting that forboding prescence that still stood near them. "..."

"Urgh, this would be easier if she would just stick to fear. Interference is only bad for her..." The hanyou sighed, running a clawed hand through his silver hair, frustrated. Why did she have to be so persistant about something so stupid? "This day just keeps getting better," he mumbled sarcastically, wondering how long they'd be in the court room. He was rather eager to get out of it, considering he currently shared this room with his father, not something he'd ever wanted to do again.

"Perhaps telling her someday the reasons behind your initiative might prove to be helpful someday," he commented idly, watching as slightly startled guardsmen came to take Inuyasha back to his cell. He managed to calm his nerves down once more, at least, so it seemed.

"I suppose I'll be seeing you tomorrow," he responding, collecting his papers and stacking them neatly into a briefcase, not exactly looking forwards to coming into this courtroom again knowing that the bastard was still alive.

Kagome and her family and lawyer had already left the courtroom promptly after the arguement.

"I'm not sure how revealing anything to her would be helpful at all," the hanyou sighed, eager to leave the courtroom, but not so much eager to return to a prison cell... He supposed he preferred the prison cell, though. There he could freak out in peace and mumble things to himself and have random outbursts without really being stared at or anything of that sort.

Kagome's questioning was odd to him; he couldn't much understand why she cared nor why she was so eager and persistant about it. It was rather annoying since he didn't want to tell anything of the horrible things he experinced. It wasn't exactly easy to talk about, and he'd never really spoken of the events before.

He wondered what his father would do; it was a bit scary to think about. He knew his father must be utterly pissed at him. He supposed his bitch of a mother really was dead; she wasn't with him, and the two never went anywhere without each other. They weren't very loving to their children, but _damn_ did they love each other. It was a very strange thing... The hanyou shook his head.

Within the next few minutes, said guards had taken the hanyou from the courtroom and back to his prison cell, while Sesshoumaru waited for Inu Taisho to have disappeared before leaving himself.

* * *

Kagome sat next to her mother in the small car, growling to herself with the music turned up slightly on the loud side. The nerve of that bastard! That was all she had been thinking of- could be thinking of for the past few hours. She ought to turn around and go back to give him another piece of her mind. Argh.

The ebony-haired girl angrily switched the radio stations, looking for a station that didn't sound all static-y.

* * *

Inuyasha spent most of his time in the dark, cold prison cell pacing back and forth, along the hard walls, mumbling quietly to himself. His ears were flat, his eyes showing how troubled he was, his stiff form shaking slightly every now and then. When he thought of the things that could happen to him, a shudder ran down his spine. This was a very frightening time for him, but he was trying to handle it as calmly as possible.

He was positive he'd end up back in that house. Part of him bitterly wondered if his blood still stained every single room's floor and walls or if his father had cleaned it up at all. He would be in this state for a while.

* * *

Kagome, who was inevitably thinking still, paused as the song had caught her attention. When the DJs had cut to the commercials, she mulled over the words, and then thought about how the hanyou had reacted to that man's prescence in the court room. From there, she wondered... Could it be that he had a deeper reason behind his torturous ways than she had thought? Hm.

"Turn around," she mumbled to her mother, feeling odd. "I need to go back for something."

* * *

Kagome had managed to get a guard to leave her alone by the hanyou's cell when they had made it back to the prison, where she stood, wondering why she was doing this.

"Well, there's no one here to listen," she spoke quietly, watching him. "I want to know- did something happen to you before you decided to kill young girls? And don't give me any of that 'keep your nose out of my business' bull, or that 'it would be for your own good not to know' crap. Give me the straight details." She wasn't really riled up like before, but she was still firmly persistant. She didn't know why, but she felt that she HAD to know.

_I can't escape this hell  
So many times I've tried  
But I'm still caged inside  
Somebody get me through this nightmare  
I can't control myself_

The hanyou was slightly startled by her sudden presence; he was in too much of a panicked mood for sudden appearances. It didn't show much, but when he turned narrowed golden eyes in her direction, there was a glint of fear visible in them. He couldn't hide it completely, that was impossible.

_So what if you can see  
The darkest side of me  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal _

He was confused; that was what this girl did to him. She confused the hell out of him. He couldn't understand anything about her; why he couldn't kill her, why she made him feel guilt when others hadn't, why she was so persistent about knowing his past. He didn't want to tell her, it wasn't her business and saying things would only make it harder on both of them. His father was angry enough with him, he didn't need that man to know he'd told someone about the treatment he'd endured. He had received several threats from his parents during those 15 years concerning him speaking to anyone about it.

_I can't escape myself  
So many times I've lied  
But there's still rage inside  
Somebody get me through this nightmare  
I can't control myself_

So Inuyasha watched her, wondering how long her persistence could last, wondering if he could hold her off until it went away. He gazed at her stubbornly, with a slight glare. He sighed quietly, his ears pricking slightly, though not very much. He was far too upset for this... "Why are you so interested, girl? Why? What reasoning to you have for prying into my past? I didn't pry into your past, demand answers from you about things long over with. Sure, I interfered with your present life, which is something you should stick to hating me for, rather than showing up outside my prison cell demanding answers that don't concern you in the slightest."

_So what if you can see  
The darkest side of me  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become _

_Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal_

"What are you going to do if I don't tell you? What can you possibly do? You could keep demanding all day and I could never tell you. I'm not required to." The hanyou shrugged slightly, turning his gaze away from her. He began to walk about the cell again; he just could not seem to stand still at this moment. His ears pinned back again, his thoughts mixed and confusing, causing him to get a headache. Sighing, he rose a clawed hand to his head, growling in his slight frustration. "But maybe I'll humor you; yes. You asked, I answered, are you ready to go away yet? I doubt it, I'm sure you're going to demand greater details now. Yes, because I've long decided you're extremely difficult and hardly anything is going to get you to go away." He wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or himself; it was possibly a little of both.

_Somebody help through this nightmare  
I can't control myself  
Somebody wake me from this nightmare  
I can't escape this hell _

_So what if you can see  
The darkest side of me  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become _

_Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal  
This animal I have become_

The inu hanyou attempted to stand still once more, leaning against one of the cell's rather cold walls, watching her and waiting for a reaction and further demands; he surely expected them. When she demanded to know what had happened to him, as he was sure she would, he didn't know what to tell her. How did he put those events into words without going on for days on end? Was it possible for him to even put those events into words at all...? Could he handle that...? Thinking about it was enough... He sighed again, wanting very much to just slam his head very hard into the wall he leaned on; then he wouldn't have to worry about it.

Kagome still had her arms crossed, but she did not speak. As she had stated before, she said that she wouldn't take any of his excuses or stalling comments, so she just waited, glaring slightly. She watched the hanyou pace, and she did hear his idle comments, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt. No, just humoring her would not make her leave, she wouldn't leave until she at least had a good amount of information to prove her thoughts upon.

However, during the current moments where the song kept playing through her head, lyrics rolling before her eyes, her head was just full of questions. Why? Why did he do it? What caused him to do it? Was there a way someone could help the bastard so that nothing like this could possibly happen again? Who was that man, and what made him shake Inuyasha up so badly? There was plenty more where that came from, but she still watched him, waiting for a decent response that answered her questions from before.

"What the hell do you want from me, wench? What are you looking for here? Yes, something happened to me, I answered that part, that's all you asked, so what the hell will make you go away?!" The inu hanyou sighed, trying to sort out a way, within his thoughts, to explain the events of his past. He knew that's more or less what she wanted to hear, though she had no idea exactly what would be said. What choice did he have? She was going to stand there until he said something, and he was not a liar; actor, yes, liar, no. He had not exactly lied to her at all. He had never told her that she would be safe coming to meet him, he had never told her he wouldn't kidnap her.

"Fine. I'll keep humoring you, if you want to know so badly, then hell, I will enlighten you. Hiding the truth is obviously something I'm good at but," he sighed again, "if you must be so damned persistent then I might as well reveal it. If only to get rid of you." He shook his head, looking off at the wall on the opposite end of the cell, his ears flicking.

"You saw the youkai in the courtroom, didn't you? I don't suppose it'd be very hard to tell, because unfortunately I look like him, but that was my father, not something I'm proud to admit. He is a man I was positive was dead, but apparently I was wrong; I'm sure he'll love shoving the failure in my face when he gets the chance. I'm sure you're wondering where this is going and why my own father would be something so upsetting...well, that's pretty much exactly where it begins.

"Exactly 19 years ago, a couple who loved each other very much had a son. Since the mother was a human and the father a youkai, the pup obviously was a hanyou. That would be me. Doesn't sound too bad, and the first few days of my life weren't, but of course those are the days my mother spent in the hospital after giving birth. I think I got my good acting skills from her. Either way, the days once we went home were not so pleasant, not that I could comprehend it much, being only a few days old. I'm not sure how, but I managed to remember my first experince with my real parents, after the happy, loving act fell once they were out of a public hospital. All I really knew at that young age was that, for the first few days home, I was completely ignored. Left somewhere in the house, unfed and such things. Then I remember interaction with my parents, some harsh sounding words though I couldn't understand what those words were. Then there was pain...severe pain for such a young pup. I later found out it had been my father's claws in my arm, but I didn't know that then. All I remember from there is that, like any normal child would, I cried, which resulted, since it was to my father's annoyance, more, worse pain, and then darkness. I wasn't quite sure what was going on then, but I'd been thrown, quite forcefully, into a wall, hitting my head and being knocked unconscious. How I didn't die from that at such a fragile age is beyond me.

"I lived in that house with those people, no longer worth the title of my 'parents,' for 15 years. For 15 years, I suffered from them, being the subject of any torturous things they could think up. For 15 years, I was in constant pain, no matter my age, no matter how well-behaved I was, no matter how much I hoped they would suddenly take a change of heart and be loving; it never happened. How do I even begin to explain it to someone who was not there or had not felt it themselves? I was fed so little in those 15 years, so unoften, that eating three meals a day, like one is supposed to, would probably make my stomach explode; I cannot eat one meal a day, it took forever to be able to handle one meal a week. Food had become just something else for them to torture me with. Beatings of any sort were daily, being sliced apart, having bones broken, such other things...they were a normal routine for me. I never left the house, I did not attend school, it would be impossible to explain so many injuries, and I would probably not manage walking there anyway. The first time I was raped, I was probably about 4, and it was by my own mother; since she was human, there wasn't a lot she could do to me physically but this she rather enjoyed. When she wasn't up for it, though, my father had no problem bringing home whores and paying them to do the nasty deed instead. When I was 7, I was almost burned alive to the point of death, but no, death was much too good for me and they wouldn't allow such luxury to fall on something so...worthless. Ah yes, the insults came often, too, they were always talking down to me, insulting me. They enjoyed those insults so much that I have almost every insult known in this world carved into my body right this moment, the only physical evidence left of their abuse, carved there by my father's own claws.

"So to guess what my life would be like...imagine enduring your one small year of torture for 15 years instead, times it by fifty because it was nothing compared to my father, and forget all aspects of food and sleep; neither of which were things that came often, because my parents didn't care if I lived or died. There was always being constantly sick, too; young hanyou are vulnerable enough to illness as it is, the neglect and abuse didn't help. Oh, and where it hits hardest; there was no comfort, no family to run to, no friends to lean on, no kind of support, just the cold, bloodstained floor. I had no one to be there and care, and tell me things were going to be okay. Consider yourself lucky to have your family, and imagine how much harder your situation would be without their love.

"Are you happy yet? Because there's your damn answer, that's what happened to me. It was really none of your damn business, but you wanted to know so there."

Kagome had ended up leaning back against the stone wall adjacent to the cell as the hanyou had spoken his long-winded er...tale? Confession, maybe? Well, not exactly, but similar. She was positive that he probably had never spoken of this to anyone before, except maybe his brother. How else would that youkai try to defend Inuyasha? Either way, by the end of the retelling, the miko was quiet, head hung slightly, her eyes shut.

Kagome definitely could never relate to that, no. Never in a hundred years, and the thought of a man and woman who could even think of committing such atrocities to their son was beyond her comprehention, though not completely. But now she did understand why the hanyou did what he did, she supposed it was some sort of outlet he had for what he did to the girls before her. Though why, exactly, she guessed she would find out later. For now, for she figured from the tone of his voice, that he was quite done with talking to her.

But her mind wandered back to what he had told her. Why...no, how? And how did he manage to even live this long? Especially when being abused since being a few days old? It must have been really bad if he can even remember seeing such things at such a fragile age. And being raped by your own mother, even? She shuttered at the very thought.

She was shaken, yes. Very much so. She seemed to be vibrating almost, her hands clasped into light fists.

But no tears came, she just didn't feel as much pity as she felt she should. But, that was perhaps because of her past experience. But the feeling was indeed there- This boy had been through a lot of shit in his life, and this is how he found a way to cope with it. She could now understand that. She wasn't totally sympathetic, but she did think that now she had some sort of reason behind the actions he committed, she didn't need to go through with the charges she pressed. She couldn't say anything for the mothers of the women who were murdered by this hanyou's hands, but she knew she couldn't press the charges. She just didn't have the heart to.

Suddenly, she felt drained, exhausted. She got her answers, and with her head swimming with sudden thoughts, she just wanted to go home and sort out her brain. She couldn't truly think, as it was starting to give her a slight headache.

Kagome sighed, standing up. "I've got my answers, then," she muttered, not looking at him. "I can't see how you could put it into words, but I guess I asked for it. I might change my mind about pressing charges, though," she commented, looking back through the corner of her eyes. "Either way, I don't think it would be fair to send you to a prison death because of something that happened to you. I think we will probably have to look into getting your father arrested or something, as he can't be let allowed to run loose." She titled her head slightly, one last thought coming to her mind.

"One more question, though. Why...why me? Why was I the only one you had let to live?"

"My father is no threat to normal people, trust me. The only one he's after is me, he wouldn't dare mess with someone outside of the family; he's not dangerous 'running loose,' to anyone but me, and by now, with as pissed as he is at me, no prison could possibly stop him...his money would see to that. The world is run by greed, and anyone would free him in an instant with the funds he has to offer. Having him arrested would only make his anger grow, and I'd rather not cause that; it only makes things more painful..." The hanyou sighed, something he was a tad tired of doing, shaking his head a little. He had one hell of a headache, and he was flooded with memories; he couldn't seem to stop shuddering at the images constantly flashing into his mind.

At her question, he looked at her, ears pricking forward slightly. He had silently been wondering if she'd ask. Then he shrugged, having no idea what to say to that. "I don't have an answer for you on that one, girl. I don't know; I had every intention of killing you but when I tried, I couldn't. I have no explanation for that. Whatever it was, it only stopped me with you, and I assure you it confuses me just as much as it does you."

"Hmm." Kagome just nodded before walking off, feeling oddly lightheaded and sick. From there she went back home to digest what she had heard from him that night, wondering whether she should go through with her decision in court tomorrow.

* * *

Sesshoumaru found himself sitting in the courtroom once more, arms crossed as he sat next to his half-brother, though he noticed how the girl that was pressing charges on the hanyou had been quite fidgety since she got here. He had flicked an eyebrow in curiosity and was tempted to ask Inuyasha if he had known anything about the girl's odd behavior, but he had said nothing. He also sensed that presence in the back of the room, and it just seemed to will him to not to speak.

Kagome however had indeed seemed to be uncomfortable- she ended up having some screwed up dream about her own experiences mixed with Inuyasha's account of what he had told her. However, she was more or less trying to think on her decision, as she still wasn't sure if she should drop the charges or not. She obviously still resented him for what he did- nothing, she felt, could ever justify completely his reasons for torturing and killing young women. However, given the circumstances, she didn't really feel as if she'd have the heart to go through with the pursuit of the case. Pressing charges didn't really seem like top priority anymore.

However, she wasn't even sure if her dropping charges would even help much, considering he was definitely responsible for the account of many, many murders, and as a murderer, would the court system even let him wander the streets alive? She didn't know, but then there was also the question about the other girls' mothers. Could they press charges? Well, unless they were sure of the murderer... urgh, this was complicated.

Soon, the judge had hammered his mallet onto his pedestal before calling court to order. "This court meeting has been adjourned to reach a verdict upon-"

"Ehem." Kagome cleared her throat to interrupt the judge, trying not to seem to be too rude. The judge merely watched her, a little surprised by her sudden interjection.

"Your honor, if I may," she started, standing up. "Given certain classified circumstances, I'd like to drop all charges against this man." She didn't give any other details, but merely stared sternly at the judge, who, in turn, looked pretty shocked at her change of heart. He wanted to ask why, but he clasped the mallet and smacked it upon the wooden surface.

"Due to the decision of the plaintiff, Inuyasha Taisho is hereby cleared of..." At this point, Kagome decided to tune the man out, and she sat back down as the court room began to buzz with confused chatter and movement. She began to rub the sides of her forehead tiredly. Sesshoumaru merely sat in confusion before finally turning to Inuyasha.

"Er...you have any clue about what has just happened?"

"Mm, kinda, though how this is going to help is completely beyond me, there's always others to press the exact same charges, but things are negative either way so I'm not sure it matters what happens at this point." Inuyasha shrugged, though he didn't seem very focused on the situation, as he seemed to be staring off at something in the distance, his ears flicking back and forth. He was there, but at the same time, he seemed to be elsewhere, that place more than likely being his thoughts.

"So what now, then?"

"I think the best choice would be to leave. Leave as soon as possible and get far away from the bastard," he replied, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I have no doubts he will try to follow, but it's better than having the benefit of the doubt and staying to let him find you anyway. Who knows what he'd do now?"

"Running is not going to help the situation," Inuyasha replied, with a sigh, shaking his head. "It'll only cause more problems than it's worth. He'll follow us to the ends of earth and through Hell and back if he has to, he's just that pissed with me, I'm sure. The man would find a way to be God long enough to part an ocean to get to me at this point, I'll bet. I really should've made sure he was dead...but hell, I was too much of a coward for that."

"Well, you didn't, and staying in one place would definitely not help anything. Though, how did you manage to get him to where you thought he was dead in the first place?"

"By attacking and injurying him, naturally. I suppose he fell unconscious, but it didn't look like he was breathing... I was too eager to get out to bother coming close enough to check for a pulse, though. Mm...so where would we even go? I don't exactly see the point; he's going to catch up anyway. Though you probably shouldn't even be involving yourself; you got out already, I dunno why you'd bother getting yourself dragged back into the, um...little circle of pain. Yeah..."

He shrugged. He didn't know why he was doing it himself, but he knew his wife would have made him to help his brother anyway. Saves him from getting yelled at by Kagura, at least. "I don't know, but even then, if he couldn't get you, he might have the odd impulse to seek me out. I didn't exactly escape unscathed." He shook his head. It was probably because of Inuaysha's point of view on things, but even he was beginning to feel that it was going to be hopeless. "However, there's always the chance that we will be able to kill him," he noted darkly. By now, the guards had already uncuffed Inuyasha.

"I'm not sure he's really concerned about you anymore...but your involvement in this might draw attention to you." The inu hanyou sighed, silently wishing he could stop doing that, but this was a very sigh-worthy time for him, he supposed. "As for killing him...I'm not sure if that's possible for either of us, separately or together... He's a lot stronger than we are...there's a lot of unused power in that bastard, what with the lack of wars and such in our current time. We would probably die in the process..."

"Better than living in concealment or suffering any more crap he throws this way, in my opinion," he commented. "We might stand somewhat of a chance, even if we decided to work together. Seperately would just ensure your own death. Or stall how long you can live, as you seem to have done already. As for power, I myself have been working on my own. I'm certain that wouldn't be expected from him-"

As he finished up the sentence, Kagome had approached the two, looking grim. "I don't plan on ever seeing you again," she noted rather pointedly. "But I wish you luck in your, er..situation. You sure that reporting him wouldn't help at all?"

"I think I would feel better handling the rest of this on my own, as foolish as that may be. By now, I'm sure you have your own life to worry about, there is no point putting it at risk." The inu hanyou mumbled in reply, before blinking at Kagome's approach, something she seemed to do quite often. It only grew more confusing each time she did so.

"Yes, I'm sure. Is that all then?"

"Not if Kagura had her way..." he muttered, shrugging slightly. "She's probably be the one to kill me if I didn't make an effort to help. I don't know why, though. She's never really cared before." But he stopped talking after that, aware of the girl's prescence.

"Yes, I guess it would be," Kagome responded, looking a little tired. She tried to smile even a little to try and be a bit pleasant, but of course, it didn't work, and she wandered away to rejoin her own family.

"So, what do you plan to do, then?"

"Tell her I said you've helped enough, there's nothing more you can do for me at this point. No amount of hiding and running will be enough to stop what's coming..." Inuyasha shrugged, watching Kagome walk away before turning his gaze elsewhere.

"Well, I suppose that's your decision to make, anyway," he added, standing up. He shuffled his papers into the briefcase-thing once more. He couldn't really think of anything else to say, so he didn't, to be blunt. He simply nodded once to the hanyou before leaving the courtroom through a side door, refusing to take the way to the back.

* * *

Author's Note

Well, now you all know why Inuyasha is so screwed up! 8D Yes, he was a very tormented little child, and more of that will be seen throughout the fanfic. That's right, Inuyasha's parents were downright evil and completely take 'child abuse,' to a whole new level! He had to have one hell of a horrible childhood to kill people after all.

And now his father's showed up again, and Kagome has dropped all charges. What's going to happen now and how will they get back together and on good terms? Well, you'll find out in the next chapter! 3 So stick around!

Please leave us your thoughts and comments in reviews, much thanks to all our readers.

-Silver and Wildfyre-


	6. A Half Dead Puppy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha nor any of it's characters. However, the plotline and ideas for Caged are my own creations, so please don't tread on my territory; no stealing.

* * *

Author's Note

Hello all!

I apologize greatly for not updating for a while. Sorry! I've had school start back up now that Spring Break is over, and I'm afraid I haven't found the time to prepare the next chapter. Even though it's already written, there's still a bit of work to be done in making these chapters ready. :D;

Anyway, this is Chapter Six of Caged, and though it's rather short, I intend to have the longer Chapter Seven up in the next few days. In the last chapter, we saw the parting of Inuyasha and Kagome, in this chapter they will unite, and in a rather bloody way. ;3

But don't let me tell you all about it, read below to see for yourself!

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Review Replies

**AnimeMew**: Hi there, and thanks so much for your review. :) I'm glad you like Caged. Yeah, Kagome is pretty naive, but she has to be. XD Trust me, though, evil little Inu wasn't lying, and you'll see the proof of his story in this chapter. He's not too happy about it, but hey, he's not the writer! x3

* * *

Caged 

Chapter Six: A Half-Dead Puppy

* * *

Three and a half months later... 

Kagome had been taking a walk by herself, just to get rid of her friends and of her family and the shrine back at home. She could admit she was rather bored with life lately, not counting the occasional nightmare that would probably haunt her for as long as she lived. But right now, she could enjoy herself. The sun was out and was warm, and the day was rather pleasant and quiet- not a kid seemed to be outside in the whole culdesac, from what she's seen.

It was a little later that she had come to pass a home that had a rather large fenced-in yard with a "beware of dog" sign by the gate door. She tilted her head and tried to look for said dog, which she soon spotted: a rather large black rottweiler was heading her way, barking and snarling wildly. Kagome stood a little ways back to grin at the wild thing.

"Awww, hi there, Cujo..." she mumbled, clasping her hands together and smiling mockingly. The dog paused for a second and tilted its head like hers, seeming to digest the words. Then it turned around and ran off.

Kagome stood up straight and scratched the side of her head, slightly confused. Then she saw it come barrelling back her way, barking up a mad storm and it leaped clear over the wire fence.

"..." She didn't even have time to say anything. Kagome began to run away screaming as the canine chased after her. She felt herself quickly tiring and a stitch formed in her chest. Panicking, the girl began to climb a ladder that stood at the side of a home and onto a lower roof setting before knocking said ladder over and leaping into the house's back yard. She could hear the dog's barking from the otherside of the wooden fence, but she felt she would be safe here.

* * *

It was then when she realized that she had even jumped into someone else's yard. She waited out until she was sure the dog had gone, but by the time the stupid thing gave up, a few hours had already passed, and it had begun to get dark. She sighed, and went out of the side door of the yard- lucky for her the home owners weren't home. 

She began to follow the way back from where the dog had chased her, and by the time she was even in familiar surroundings again, the sky had already gotten dark. Kagome hugged close her sweater and began to walk again before she noticed something odd in the shadows, given shape by the dim orangish glow of the street light. She moved to try and get a closer of whatever it was, just a little ways off of the sidewalk.

Life had been hell again. He had expected it; he had been right to. After the situation with court had ended, he had done everything in his power to avoid his father, but was well aware that time would bring him face to face with that man. Time had brought that meeting a bit sooner than he expected, but he wasn't surprised. Soon his eyes laid on his real prison; his home, though it was hardly worthy of that title. Thus his hell began once again, and he remembered what pain really felt like; four years was long enough to forget quite a great deal, especially since his mind had been repressing the memories.

It was worse. His father had grown even more merciless, if that was possible. His methods of inflicting pain were more aggressive; he knew why. Inuyasha had taken something very special to his father the night he ran away, his mother. With her dead, he was positive his father's goal was to make his life as worse as physically, mentally, and emotionally possible while still keeping him alive. He hadn't really been aware that his situation could get worse. Now he was.

The inu hanyou had done something stupid, something reckless. It was an act of desperation; he had to get out. In attempt to save whatever was left of him; his body and mind were both quite broken, his heart and soul were certainly getting there.

..where did all the blood come from? He'd been bleeding so long, yet it still came, dripping onto the ground beneath him, as if it would never really stop.

He'd ran, only at his own expense. When his father tracked him down, which shouldn't be hard at all to do with the blood trail left behind, he would only pay deeply for his stupid, desperate actions. But there was still a small part of the hanyou clinging to a tiny bit of hope, and though his grasp on it grew weaker with each breath he painfully took, it was still there. Hope for something better than this...

But now he had collapsed, and couldn't seem to get to his feet anymore. He felt a rough surface against his left side. He assumed it was a tree, a tree, standing at the side of the concrete sidewalk, that he now leaned upon, though he couldn't really see the tree, just feel its bark against his side. He couldn't see anything, except colorful blurs, as his vision was slowly being lost to him, because of his intense blood-loss. A human would have died. His breathing consisted of short, swift gasps, obviously painful, hinting that he had quite a few broken ribs; the rather large bruise on his stomach would contribute to that assumption, considering it had been put there quite forcefully by his father's foot.

The tree's bark that he leaned upon was drenched in crimson. The same crimson ran, like a small river, onto the sidewalk, staining the concrete red with blood; his blood. This clearly meant that the hanyou's clothing was covered in his blood, also, as his body was covered with bleeding gashes, put there by various things, such as blades, whips, his father's claws, ect. Even his sensitive ears bore injuries, deep cuts, burns, one was torn slightly. Inuyasha's main method of defense, his claws; gone. Ripped quite painfully from his hands, though they would grow back. Until then, he was fairly helpless. One arm hung limp at his side, clearly broken, and one of his legs was in a similar state, most likely broken also, though he'd been forced to walk on it. The hanyou was pale, probably suffering from illness also, and thin, obviously having been starved; chances were he had lived on water alone the past few months. Where there were not cuts, gashes and bruises, it seemed there were burns, looking to be both from flames, and types of acids. Almost every part of the hanyou was injured, it didn't seem there was a place unharmed on him, besides his face, which wasn't completely untouched; he kept one eye closed, and there was a cut under the other, and quite a few bruises, too.

He wasn't sure how he survived this way anymore. Any other hanyou would probably have died under this treatment by now, right? Maybe it was strength in his bloodline, despite how much he hated it, or maybe he had a very firm will to survive.

He was beginning to lose consciousness, seeing everything slowly fade to black. He did not hear nor see Kagome's approach, though he was still somewhat conscious. He couldn't see or hear anything. Weakness swarmed him, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep himself alive at this point. Running hadn't been intelligent of him; he only wasted his energy in a vain attempt to free himself of his wretched life, knowing well his life would never change despite his efforts. Nothing could save him at this point, unless it was maybe an angel, but those were much too good for a worthless mutt such as himself. He coughed weakly, tasting blood in his mouth afterward, knowing that the crimson substance was escaping him through his coughs now as well; he seemed to have blood leaving his body from everywhere... Urgh, his head hurt, and he was on the borderline of consciousness, yet to pass out but very close. There was so much wrong with him now...and no one there to assist him, so he thought. Even if he did see Kagome, though, he wouldn't expect her, of all people, to help him.

Kagome stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, just at the edge of the light's reach. She could hear the hard breathing, and she could see the blood trickling down into the pavement. She thought about turning back to get help, but it seemed that whoever was here would more than likely not have enough time to wait that long. She was hesitant, but she moved forwards anyway, trying to at least get a look at who it was collapsed against the tree.

It took much squinting, but within seconds she recognized that face. She suppressed a small scream as she wondered how the hell HE had ended up here, ended up like this. Though, a few seconds later, her brain processed what must have happened and she had calmed down at least a little, her heart still pounding at the sight of a bloody, beaten boy who had collapsed against that tree in front of her.

((It makes me think of when they first meet in the series now that I think about it. Err, in a twisted, violent way. XD))

She didn't ask if he was alive, it was a stupid question since he was obviously breathing, though she wasn't sure how much longer that would last. The problem was, how was she supposed to help? She didn't think any residents around would help, and she had no one to run to. It would take too much time to call 911 at this point. She shuddered at the thought, but there seemed to be only one option, and that was to bring him home with her.

Kagome shook her head, not believing why she was even helping the poor bastard, but here she was, lifting one of his arms and tossing it over her shoulder. "Can you walk?"

She really did like the word 'bastard' for him, ne?

Inuyasha had not at all expected her presence, and the physical contact did nothing to calm him, considering he hadn't much noticed her approach in the first place, his senses temporarily dead; he wasn't far off from following them. At her touch, he had visibly flinched, and whimpered loudly, though that wasn't very shocking considering the pain he was probably in. He only calmed slightly when he heard her voice, which he recognized. He would bother with confusion later, as he had no idea why she would bother helping him and not just leaving him to die like she should. He couldn't think about things like that now, it only brought forth a headache, and he didn't need anymore pain.

At her question, he did not trust his voice, it would be too shaken and weak to be understood anyway, so he merely nodded. With his leg in the condition it was in, walking would hurt like hell, but he made it this for, surely he could manage to their destination, wherever she was intending to take him. He would protest when he had the energy, right now he would take assistance from anyone in his desperate, helpless state.

Yes, yes she did. She had every right to feel that way, though, eh?

She knew she was probably going to get fussed at everybody for it, but despite everything that had happened, she couldn't just leave him out on the streets like this. Well, she could, but she'd feel guilty about it, and, for some odd reason, she honestly did want to help. She had been beginning to confuse herself lately, as she was starting to wonder why she was doing what she did.

But instead she began to focus on walking the hanyou back to the shrine. She tried hard not to get sick, as the bittersweet coppery smell of blood was sickening her just as much as the feeling of the hot sticky liquid on her skin and in her clothes was. She didn't want her mother to know just yet, she probably wouldn't approve Kagome bringing home her kidnapper and near-murderer all bloodied up like he was.

Kagome went and guided him around to the back door before pausing to make sure no one was near the stairway inside. Positive that they wouldn't be seen, she continued to guide him up to her room, where she set him to sit on the glossy wooden floor. Kagome blanched as she felt the blood begin to coagulate and set on her skin, but first things first.

She ran off into her grandfather's room, brining out a set of her father's clothes that he had left when he abandoned the family; a blue and white haori set in the tradition of their shrine. This should fit him well enough. She then went to the bathroom to wash off her hands and take off her bloodied sweater before filling a large bowl with steaming hot water and taking a rag and a sponge with her.

Kagome re-entered her room with the items in hand, placing them on the ground next the hanyou. "Will you be able to clean yourself up, or is something broken?" She couldn't tell, but she sat on the edge of her bed and stared at him, wondering how he had managed to let himself get messed up so horribly.

The inu hanyou glanced at her, his vision still quite blurred, but he could make out her general outline at least. His battered dog ears had been pinned back, and remained that way, as she made him incredibly uncomfortable, though he wasn't exactly sure why. He supposed it was a mixture of the guilt, and knowing that she really didn't at all like him. Though that knowledge only made him wonder why she was helping him; it was probably out of pity, though he didn't much care for that thought... He didn't want her pity.

He sighed, turning his gaze to what he was sure was a wall, though through his eyes, a very fuzzy one. Urgh, he hated feeling weak, being left drained, helpless... He was well used to it by now, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it; there had never been amusement in his life, that was clear. "..everything..." He winced. Speaking shouldn't be so painful, dammit... His voice was quiet, weak, no louder than a whisper but that couldn't be helped much right now. "Everything's broken..." Even if he was capable of treating his own wounds and such, there was no way he'd be able to reach them all. One of his arms was useless, though, so he wouldn't be very effective at caring for himself. He didn't even know how, he'd never been allowed to care for his injuries before. They were left to slowly heal on their own, which usually resulted in infection...

At least she wouldn't have to worry about him hurting her... She would be able to kill him without problem with him in this condition, and the claws that caused many of her injuries in the past were now gone; he was about as harmful as a half-dead puppy. He hated to admit that, but it was the truth. He glanced at Kagome again quickly, "Why...?" He couldn't push out the rest of the sentence, it wasn't worth the pain. He hissed, wincing again. Everything hurt, it was almost overwhelming. He was fairly sure his body was shaking; either that, or the room was. He wanted to know why she had brought him here, why she had helped him.

What did survival mean for him at this point? A life that would be spent hiding and running from his father, a life where he would be hated by most, one where he was uncared for...a life that was meaningless... He almost wished he had just died back there, leaning on that tree. There was...nothing worth enduring this pain, nothing worth living for. That small bit of hope was fading, and these thoughts arose. What was the point of living through this...? He was no more important than a filthy stray mutt, something no one cared for or loved; most were disgusted or annoyed, even sympathy was uncommon.

What had he done to deserve this life? Did the Gods hold some kind of grudge against him? Was happiness even possible for him? He had not smiled once in his 19 years of living, he had never had a reason to. He could recall no laughter...there were no pleasant memories, nothing to comfort him or inspire him to keep living. He wasn't sure why he stayed alive, or why he felt it was worth enduring all of the pain and suffering.

He certainly wished he could figure it out, because it was highly confusing why he couldn't just settle for death and be at some kind of peace.

Kagome nodded, and then she kneeled behind him. "First, we're going to get rid of these bloody rags," she mumbled, grimacing at the thought. However, she helped to remove the shirt regardless, but she wasn't sure she was prepared to see what was underneath- the scars, burns, bruises- she wasn't expecting all of that. Not to this degree. And from there, she needed a change of plans. Kagome quickly left the room with the tattered, bloody garment and returned with a few different ointments and herbal medicines her grandfather kept around the house.

She didn't speak much after that. All she did was begin to try and get most of the blood off of the damaged skin, hearing that last question as she did so. Why? Why, indeed.

"I'm not entirely sure why I'm helping you," she responded, pausing for a moment to think before resuming. "Part of me sympathizes, afterall. What you put me through seems pitiful compared to this. Another part of me is just...mystified. I'm starting to lose my understanding of why I do what I do. It's like...something in me tells me not to bother. Another voice will then tell me that I HAVE to help, no matter what. It's a very...confusing feeling, and it's starting to become annoying." She stared at a peculiarly shaped speck of blood before she washed over it, too. Soon, after being satisfied that most of the back was clean, she began to move around, trying to rid the rest of the blood.

She didn't talk more past that point, she couldn't think of a reason to. Her mind was racing in confusion, and it was starting to distract her. However, within the next couple hours, she managed to get the blood off the best she could, wrapped up wounds in bandages and splinted the broken limbs, applied ointment to all the burns and the cuts and gashes, and then she helped him into the clean clothes. She wasn't sure how much she could have done for the hair, so she had sponged it down as well, but surprisingly enough, it cleaned pretty easily. And though they might be a little difficult to remove, she stuck a couple bandaids on the torn ear. She couldn't wrap bandages onto it well enough. Man, she was glad her mother made her learn about medical treatments, being a priestess and all.

She sat back down on her bed, feeling tired and grimy. She needed a shower. But before she goes... "You feeling a little bit better?" she asked.

The inu hanyou didn't speak either, figuring it wasn't worth the pain, and questions could be saved for later, assuming he lived. He wasn't sure he understood her reasoning, and he wasn't sure what was to become of him once was injuries were healed; he didn't think he'd be particularly welcome within these walls permanently, and he was probably not even welcome now. He was slightly curious how her family would feel when they discovered his presence.

It felt nice to be clean of all the blood, but the pain had not subsided in the slightest. He expected it to continue for some time, figuring he'd just have to bear it, there was nothing that could be done. He'd had trouble keeping himself awake during her hours of treatment, but strained to keep his eyes open, in case he was needed to do something, though he couldn't be sure what. Now he was incredibly tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep, something he wouldn't mind doing here and now, right in the floor; it would be nothing new for him. Though he was already sick, he probably didn't need to make the illness grow by sleeping on the floor, that was the last thing he needed, a bad illness on top of all these injuries.

His ears twitched slightly, as he heard her voice, his eyes staring blankly at the floor, not bothering to look upward as he had no reason to. He was not someone who enjoyed eye-contact very much; too often he had seen the negative emotions directed toward him in someone's eyes, though this mostly occurred with his parents. He expected to see it from her, too; she had no reason to feel anything positive for him, and he expected the exact same hatred. "No," he replied quietly, not going to lie about it, he was still suffering from unbearable amounts of pain, and though his wounds had stopped bleeding for now, it would be some time before this pain subsided. "But I'll live..." He wondered why she cared.

Well, she couldn't have him dying on her, now could she? "Well, you can take my bed or something," she added as she got up and rummaged through her closet to get out more comfortable house clothes. She could tell he was tired, and since she wouldn't even be in the room, she could care less where he would rest, as long as there was somewhat a form of comfort, a luxury he didn't give to her. She was determined not to do what he had inflicted upon her, and though her loathe hadn't really lifted much (maybe a fraction), she didn't deny him a bed at least.

Kagome shook her head. What was she even thinking? The girl took her clothing and left the room to head to the bathroom to get cleaned up. She returned in about an hour, feeling better now that she was sure she had removed all of the hanyou's blood from her skin and hair. She poked her head into the room to see if Inuyasha had at least moved.

Inuyasha didn't exactly feel good about sleeping in her bed, though he felt terribly misplaced here anyway. A lot of it more than likely had to do with guilt, and it only made him frustrated with himself. He didn't exactly deserve to take her bed, despite that she offered, and he really had no interest in doing so. He wasn't sure she really cared in the matter, but still, it seemed odd and a little wrong to him. Wasn't making her burden with his injuries enough? What he should do is leave...he didn't at all belong here.

When Kagome returned, the inu hanyou had not moved much, he'd merely managed to scoot himself near a wall of the room, which he'd leaned on, though gently since too much pressure would hurt his injuries. It was there that he'd fallen asleep, unable to resist the exhaustion anymore and giving in to the darkness; sleep was nice, there was no pain. He would be fine enough here; it wasn't the healthiest way to sleep, but he had never really lived in a healthy environment anyway. He would survive, and if he didn't, well at least he wouldn't have to worry about things like this anymore.

Kagome saw him sleeping and walked quietly in. She placed her hands on her hips and watched him, wondering what she was trying to get out of helping this guy, but nothing came to her brain and she moved over to her desk. She still had homework to do, and since she was sure that telling hermother that she has her kidnapper in the house while she is cooking might not be the best idea in the world.

Forlornly, she pulled out that dreaded Trigonometry textbook and began to work out the math problems. However, before long, the numbers began to jump on the pages and dance with the words and the pictures and soon, she fell into a vortex of evil mathmatics. In the end, Kagome's face was flat in the book with her arm still in writing position as she used her textbook as a very uncomfortable pillow.

* * *

Author's Notes

Well, surprisingly, it looks like Kagome might care a little bit about her 'bastard,' half-demon. XD nudges them This is only the beginning of a bit of a better relationship for them, but there's still going to be chaos ahead for them both as well. After all, we've still got Inuyasha's father to worry about.

You guys better stick around, things are going to get even more exciting soon. In the next two chapters or so. 8D

Thanks for reading!

-Silver and Wildfyre-


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